


Fate is a Funny Thing

by Cali_brate



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Character Death, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 23:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20072368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cali_brate/pseuds/Cali_brate
Summary: After killing a girl's family, Silver adopts her, despite his crew's argument against it. The girl spends her life flying with a pirate crew, learning how to be a pirate. After sometime away, she returns, only to find out the crew, besides Silver, had died or been hung after a treasure hunt. So she goes to find work, at a brand new inn.





	Fate is a Funny Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this is a story I started in 2015, and originally posted on fanfiction net. I never finished it then (my last update was in 2016). But I watched Treasure Planet again, and decided to finish it. So I'm gonna upload a slightly edited version here as well.
> 
> Don't ask me how letters or phones work in this universe, it's magic we can never hope to know.

The sounds of screams and pleading wake a child from her sleep. She curls her small hands tight around the blanket. The ship rocks slightly, and her eyes open. Shadows move quickly through the gap in the bottom of the door. Sitting up, she hears voices outside.  
“I think we got all of them.”

“Let's go tell the captain.” 

_ Who was that? _ She wonders. Her family were the only ones on the ship, and they shouldn’t be close to a port. She looks toward the door. She knows that her father does not like when she leaves her room without permission. She knows that she might get punished. Her legs swing over the side of her bed. A short drop, and her bare feet touch the cool wooden floor. 

_ If I’m careful, father won’t see me. He never notices me unless he needs me, anyway.  _ The girl thinks, as the ship rocks again, and she stumbles. She grabs her shoes, and pulls them on as she shuffles towards the door. More voices breaks the silence, but she doesn’t know whose it was. Her small hands reach towards the door knob, but she hesitates. Looking towards the mirror beside the door, she reaches and touches the fading bruise on her face.  _ Maybe, maybe father won’t care, because I was scared, if he catches me.  _ She turns from the mirror, her hands clenched, recalling the blow she received a few days ago, and takes a deep breath. She reaches out, and the knob is cold in her hand as she twists it.

What she saw was nothing she had ever expected. Her parents both came from wealthy families, so they had one of the nicest single family ships this side of the galaxy. But now the ship looked anything but. The walls were scratched, strips of the wallpaper were hanging down. The floor had gouges in it, like someone dragged a knife through it. She looks down the hall, to where she had heard voices. Shadows bob across the walls, and when she focused, she could hear someone talking. Taking another deep breath, she tiptoes down the hall, trying to stay quiet. As she gets closer, she starts to hear words, not just voices.

“Is ta’t all o’ them?”

“We ain’t seen no more.” 

“Good lad, now go see what valuables t’ey ‘ave”  _ What were they talking about? Who was that talking, it's just our family on this ship?  _ The girl continues inching down the hallway, checking around her every few steps to make sure her father doesn’t catch her. She almost reached the turn to see what was going on, when she heard footsteps heading towards her. She quickly jumped behind a chair, waiting as they passed. She watched the three of them walk down the hallway, past her bedroom. She didn’t recognize what race any of them were, having mostly been around fellow humans in her short life.

Once they passed her room, the girl crept out from behind the chair, and thinking no one was left, walked into the large room. The sight she saw would forever be ingrained into her mind. Her father was lying on his side, facing the hallway. His eyes were open, fear cast over them, frozen in death. There was a large, red gap in his chest, just under his neck. Her mother had a chunk of her head missing. Her mouth was agape, holding its scream. Her left arm was draped over the girl’s older brother, who had a hole similar to her father’s in his chest. The girl stood, her eyes wide, not able to move from the shock. 

She stands still, her hands balled into fists. Many emotions rush through her. This was her family. And they were spread on the floor, in pools of their blood. She was supposed to feel bad, right? She didn’t know. For being only five, she had been through a lot. She was born two years after her brother, and was never wanted. As soon as she was able, she was treated like a servant. If she displeased her father, she would get a slap in the face. Her mother and brother ignored her, acted like she didn’t exist, unless they wanted her to do something.

  
  


She looks at the bodies. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know...I didn’t think anyone would actually… I didn’t want you all to die, I just wanted you to be nice,” she whispers aloud. Unknown to her, one of the pirates was still in the room, and had been watching her. He gets up, and walks slowly up to her. He can’t move too fast, or the gears in his leg will alert the child. He reaches out with his flesh hand, and rests it on the girl’s shoulder. She gasps, and turns, tripping backwards and falling on her back. “D-don’t, I-I um,” words fall out of her mouth, but they never made a complete thought. She decided to stare up into the man’s eyes, alternating between his robotic and natural one.

“What are ya doin’ here, lass,” he says, his metal arm behind his back changing into a pistol. She stands up, her grey eyes wide. Her expression changed from fear to a challenging stare. Barely standing above his knee, it would be humorous, if not for the dead bodies laying a few feet from them.

“I didn’t want you to kill them!” she yells. “I just asked for someone to make them treat me nice!” her defiant stare turns into a scowl. He stares in shock, and freezes for a moment.  _ This  _ child _ , who could be no more than five, looked at her family, lying dead on the floor, and  _ yells _ at him, an Ursid five times her size? And what was this, she was asking for someone to change the way her family treated her? _ He looks down, and she was staring up into his eyes. His arm had already flipped back to a hand, and he picks the girl up. She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but gives up after a moment. She was tiny, especially when compared to him. She could almost sit comfortably in the palm of his hand. 

“Why’d ya’ say that lass?” he asks, confusion plain in his voice.

“Because they’re so mean! And now, now they can’t be mean, but I have no one! Why did you do this!” She screams, and tears begin forming at the corners of her eyes. The scowl she had turned into despair, and she covers her eyes with her hands. She tries not to cry, but her sobs make her body shake. 

“Well, um, ya’ see lass… your fam’ly t’ey ain’t, they  _ could not _ be nice, so ya’ see, this was t’only way that...that you could have a nice fam’ly,” he looks at the small human in his arms, and she looks back up at him. Her eyes red and puffy, a perplexed smile breaks out on her face. “See, me an’ me crew, we’re gonna be your new fam’ly,” he can’t believe he’s saying this.  _ I’m a pirate. One that you do not want to make angry. A pirate the has murdered more than he can count. And here I am, telling a small, abused child, that I saved her from her family. _

“S-so they were bad p-people? Even m-my brother?” she asks, trying to suppress her sobs, glancing at the bodies on the floor. He turns so she can’t see them. 

“Yes, lass, but first, what’s your name?” he asks. Still in disbelief from his own actions, he starts to walk out of the room.

“Artis Brielle O’Connor. I-I like to be called Brielle,” she leans her head on his left shoulder.

“Nice to meet ya’ lass. Me name’s John Silver,” he smiles, but it quickly drops from his face. 

_ What am I gonna tell my crew. I know they would never question my actions to my face, but I’ve heard them mumble things behind my back. Not only did I tell them to leave no survivors...That’s it! They left a survivor. So as punishment, the crew is going to have to treat Brielle as if she was family.  _

He looks at her. She had light brown skin, with splotches of freckles at her elbows, knees, and across her face. Her hair was a golden brown, and fell in thick curls around her face. Her eyes were an almost silver shade of grey. There were faded bruises on her arms, and one on her face. The poor kid had been through a lot, it seemed. But now she had calmed down, and rested her head against his shoulder, leaning into his neck. 

“Mr. Silver?” Brielle mumbles.

“Yes, lass?” he chuckled, he hadn’t been called Mr. Silver in a long time. 

“Thank you,” she whispers, and she falls asleep. 

_ Poor kid, she was abused, and this certainly traumatized her. At least she’s asleep, so whatever the crew says, she won’t have to hear.  _ Silver walks down the hallway, and stops when he passes an open door. He walks into Brielle’s room, looking around at its sparse furnishing. He puts her down on her bed, and she curls up into a ball. He opens her dresser, and takes a few items of clothing and places them on top of her blanket. He grabs the small coat hanging by the door, and manages to wrap her in it, without waking her. Folding up the blanket around her clothes, he picks her and the bundle up.

Walking out of the room, Silver hears the voices of his crew. He smiles, and holds Brielle tighter against himself.  _ This is going to be great. Punishing and pissing off the crew with one child.  _ The voices get louder as he walks down the hallway.

* * *

Silver pulls the hood of Brielle’s coat over her head and shifts his hold of her so it wasn’t obvious he was holding a child. He comes up to the bottom of the stairs leading to the deck, and sighs. There could be many different reactions to the girl. It was hopeless to think the crew would just accept her. If he was lucky, they wouldn’t immediately suggest killing her.

“Well lads, looks like ya’ did well,” Silver says, as he walks up the stairs to the deck. The crew are loading whatever they thought was valuable into one of the long boats floating beside the ship. “But ya’ missed one little thing,” Silver smirked, as the crew turned to face him. A few looked worried, knowing that it was not good that they missed something. 

“What? What did we miss?” Onus asked, nervously eyeing the bundles Silver was carrying.

“What was t’one thing I asked ya’ to do?” Silver addressed the crew.

“You tell us kill everyone,” Grewnge grumbles out.

“And what did ya’ do?” 

“We killed ‘em all!” Onus shouts excitedly, bouncing a little.

“Hm, that's funny, ‘cause I don’t think ye did,” Silver says calmly, and shifts Brielle so her hood falls back. The overwhelming silence around his crew makes Silver grin, and he focuses his robot eye across each of his crew’s faces. Most looked shocked, and a few afraid. Then his eye lands on Scroop. Scroop looked disgusted, the pupils of his yellow eyes narrowed.  _ Should have left him on the ship.  _ “Now what do ya’ think we’re gonna do about this?” Silver questions, looking away from Scroop.

“Throw her overboard!”

“Yeah! Space her!”

“We can sell her to slavers!!” 

Silver chuckled after hearing his crew’s creative ways to deal with their small problem. Too bad for them, he had already made a choice. “We ain’t gonna do any o’ that. I have somet’ing much worse,” he grinned, and his crew listened eagerly. Silver stepped forward, into the middle of the crew. “Since ye’ lied to me, and did not follow me orders, I have a punishment for ya,” Silver addressed his crew, making sure to make eye contact with as many as possible. Those within his reach backed up a few steps, hearing a bit of anger in his voice.

Brielle shifts against his arm, and Silver realizes that shouting pirates are not the easiest thing to sleep to. “Mr. Onus! Take this to me’ cabin. I’ll tell you all once we’re sailing again,” Silver says quickly, throwing the blanket bundle to Onus. The crew stares in silence at their captain, who was patting the head of the child in her arms. “The rest of you! Get that stuff to the ship...NOW!” Silver commands the crew, and they rush to appease him, fearing they all may be on his bad side now.

Silver turns his back to the crew, and Brielle turns her head up to look at him. Her big grey eyes hold terror in them, but she stays quiet. He attempts to comfort her, but she lets out a small gasp, and buries her face into his neck. 

“Looks like sssomeone found a new pet,” Silver turns to face those evil yellow eyes. Scroop crept forward on his legs, straightening to tower over Silver. The spider’s mouth was pulled back into a sinister smile, his eyes trying to burn into Silver. “She’ss a pretty one,” Scroop leans forward near Silver’s face. Silver turns, to keep Brielle as far from the spider as possible. If the girl wasn’t clinging tightly to his chest, Silver would’ve hit Scroop across his red face. So instead he just scowls up at the bug, his robotic eye darkening to red.

“Now don’t ya’ go around making vulgar assumptions!” Silver snarled in the spider’s face. Scroop stumbled back at the hostility. “Now get yer sorry ass to the long boats and help the rest o’the crew,” Silver roars, and Scroop turns and walks away, sneering over his shoulder at Silver. 

“I’m sorry, lass,” Silver says softly once the spider was far enough away. Brielle sniffles, and looks up at Silver. Her eyes were big and scared like they had been a few minutes before. She looks towards the crew, and watches them intently. Her gaze shifts over each one, before landing on Scroop. She watches him, his spider limbs moving strategically around the crew. When his big yellow eyes turn in her direction, she quickly buries her face back into Silver. “Y’alright?” Silver asks, then nearly smacks himself due to the stupidity of the question. The girl saw her family dead, and is now being more or less kidnapped by pirates. ‘Alright’ does not have any place here. 

“I’m tired,” Brielle whispers. Sleep had always been her escape, no one harmed her until she woke up. 

“Alright lass, we’ll get ya to bed soon,” Silver said, and rested his hand on the back of her head. She nodded, and leaned back down into his shoulder. Silver turns and walks back to the crew, who had finished piling and sorting items into the long boats. He climbs into one, making sure Scroop was in the other. The way back to the ship was uneventful, the crew still wary of the punishment they had yet to receive. Silver held Brielle close, and she fell back asleep on the short ride.

Once they returned to the ship, the crew quickly hurried to secure the boats and unload, not waiting for Silver to order them to do so.  _ Maybe I should threaten them with an unsaid punishment more often. _ Silver chuckled to himself, and walked up to his cabin. 

He opened the door, and saw that Onus had managed to beat him there, the bundle of clothes was lying on his bed. He laid Brielle down, and unfolded the blanket, wrapping her up in it. Her eyes open for a moment, but sleep already had a tight hold on her. Her golden curls were in a mess over her face, but her sleep seemed peaceful enough. 

“No one’s ever gonna hurt you on my watch,” Silver whispers, barely audible, and rests his metal hand gently on her shoulder. He sighs, dwelling in the past is not going to help the future. Giving her shoulder a soft squeeze, he leaves the room, making sure to lock the door behind him. He looks at his crew, who had assembled on the deck, waiting nervously for the punishment he had promised them. 

Silver straightens his hat, and descends the few stairs to be level with his crew.  _ Well, here goes nothing.  _ “As y’know gentlemen,” he scoffs, “you all failed my order ‘leave not one soul living’. So as captain, it is my duty t’teach ya all a lesson, for disobeying this apparently  _ complicated _ task. You all saw, or have now heard, that there is a young girl aboard this here ship. She was left living, so I brought her here to teach you all responsibility,” Silver pauses, and glances around. The crew look at each other confused, not knowing what this responsibility could be. “Since ye’ seemed to be confused, I’ll explain it to ya. You all, myself included, are going to raise this young girl as if we were her family,” seeing his crew gasp, and look at him skeptically, he continues.“I know this may seem like a bizarre idea, but you’ll see how much of a punishment this will be in a few days,” Silver smirked, and the crew start to mumble to each other. Silver could pick out a few words, mostly “is he crazy?” “is he serious?” “I don’t believe this”. This was going much better than he had expected, so far no fights had broken out. Then he heard hissing from behind, causing a shiver to go down his back.

“This iss your punishment? You’ve gone ssoft now, haven’t you Silver,” Scroop hisses.

Now free of a child in his arms, Silver reaches out and snatches Scroop by his snout with his metal hand. Holding a tight grip on his mouth, Silver growls in his face, “What was that, Mr. Scroop? Ya’ want t’run that by me again!” Having no reason to hold back anger, Silver takes this opportunity to make an example out of Scroop. “Now I’ll give ya’ a moment ta think about yer words. Ya may want t'think deeply on them,” Silver’s brow furrows as he glares angrily into Scroops yellow eyes. He releases the spider’s face, pushing him back to off balance him.

“Ssorry, captain,” Scroop grovels, and slinks to the back of the crew.

“Good. Now, anyone else have any objections?” Silver had taken the time he had to switch his arm into a sword, and swung it up in front of himself. They all had some form of objection, but thought it better to keep it to themselves. The anger of an Ursid was always frightening, being a cyborg just made the anger more dangerous. Seeing no one wished to voice their opinion, Silver turned, his coat flourishing out behind him, and walked back to his cabin.

Brielle was still sleeping, her breaths soft and even. There was a small smile on her face. Her dreams were filled with promises of a better day ahead. For the first time in a long time, her dreams were not full of fear of what the waking world would bring. Her dead family did not appear once, their red and mangled bodies would not cloud her innocent dreams. She was floating around a meadow, the Etherium glowed in the sky above her. 

Silver watch Brielle sleep for a few minutes, watching her chest rise and fall slowly. For all the trauma she had experienced that day, she was sleeping peacefully. Deciding he would rather not move her, Silver sits down in the chair near his bed, and lets himself be taken by sleep.  
  
  


* * *

Brielle woke up slowly. Her grey eyes cracked open, adjusting to the light coming in through the window. She was not ready to leave the warm embrace of sleep. She didn't want to see her father. She didn't want to have to do everything. She didn't-  _ wait, where am I?  _ Brielle sits up, and observes her surroundings.  _ Oh yeah! Mr. Silver saved me!  _ She looks over at him, still asleep in the chair next to the bed. He was frowning, his hands crossed over his chest. His right eye was glowing faintly red as he slept.  _ He looks sad. I should go cheer him up! He saved me, he should be happy!  _ Brielle smiles to herself, and jumps down from the bed. Walking up next to the chair, she climbs up over the side, sitting on the arm. “Mr. Silver! Mr. Silver wake up!” her small voice tries to break through his sleep.

_ “Olivia! Thomas!” Silver yells. He looks around frantically, searching for two small children. The ship was slowly falling towards the planet below. Smoke from the fire blazing around the ship obscures his view. He hears footsteps, and rushes towards the sound. Through the smoke he sees two pairs of short legs. “Olivia! Thomas! Wait!” he yells, following as best he can. He’s having trouble breathing as smoke clogs his lungs, he can barely see as it clouds his eyes. A scream reaches his ears, and not letting the smoke slow him down, he forces his legs to take him to the noise. Rounding the corner of the ship, he stops. The small body of a young Ursid lays face down in the middle of the hall. Another smaller one is leaning against the wall. “NO!” Silver yells, and crouches down. “Olivia! Thomas!” he grabs the small bodies, desperately searching for a pulse. “No, please,” he cries. He lays them both down. The fire that was slowly consuming the ship licks at the floor around him. Tears escape his eyes as it burns up his side. _

_ “Mr. Silver!” a voice breaks through his despair. “Mr. Silver! Wake up!”  _

Waking from his nightmare, Silver gasps as he no longer chokes on smoke. Soft yellow light from the window casts a more pleasant glow than the red of fire. He turns to the child sitting on the arm of the chair. Her curls were a mess, and her grey eyes looked up at him, concern on her face.  _ She looks so much like Olivia.  _ Silver thinks, and pulls Brielle over so she’s sitting on his lap. Her concerned eyes turned to frightened. 

“I’m sorry I woke you up! You looked sad, so I thought- I thought it would be good, I’m sorry,” Brielle says, suddenly frightened. She tries to curl up as small as possible, holding one arm protectively in front of her face.

“Thank ya’ lass,” Silver says. She looks up, remembering that he had saved her. He wasn’t going to hurt her. “Was a terrible nightmare,” Brielle smiles, knowing she had helped him. “Now, how did you sleep?” he asks, trying to clear his mind of smoke and fire.

“I always sleep good, ‘cause father leaves me alone when I sleep,” she says, and smiles, remembering that father can’t hurt her anymore. Silver looks at her. This small, abused child, was braver than many men he’d met in his life. The faint bruises on her, and her reflex of hiding told him a lot about her short life.

“Well, now ya’ don’t ever have t’think about him ever again,” Silver smiles, this child lit up like a solar flare. “I’m not saying ya’ living on this ship is gonna be easy. It’ll take some gettin’ used to, and I’m not sure if the crew is gonna like ya’ at first. But I’ll make sure no one hurts ya,” Silver says, and places Brielle on the floor as he stands. Suddenly, he realized how much work this was going to be. He was raising a child on a pirate ship, he had to make sure she ate, and had clothes, and bathed, and make sure his crew accepted her.  _ This was a horrible idea _ . But he looks down, Brielle was comparing her height to his leg, and he chuckled.  _ Maybe not the worst idea I’ve had.  _

Silver had never thought the comb extension on his arm would ever be used. What hair he had didn’t need much maintenance, and he always covered it anyway. Combing Brielle’s hair proved to be a much bigger challenge than he had anticipated. Her thick curls seemed to get more tangled, until she pointed out it was better to do it in parts. After fighting that battle, he showed her how to tie a bandana around her head. It was light blue, one that he never wore. She smiled when he picked her up to show her in the small mirror by the door. 

His clock chimed from where it was sitting on the wall: eight o’clock. His crew had better be up at their posts. Leaving the room to let Brielle get dressed, he surveyed the deck. The crew roamed around the ship. It appeared someone had at least attempted to wash the deck. The Etherium was bright as they passed a star, casting a yellow light over everything. Hearing his door opening behind him, Silver turned to help Brielle open it.

Brielle looked around the ship. It was much bigger than the one her family had been on. There were many pirates, all different races, none of which she could identify. She remembered listening to her mother reading stories to her brother about pirates. They were supposed to be big and mean and not care about anyone but themselves. But that was wrong, Mr. Silver was a pirate, and he cared about her. She looks up at him, and sees his focus is elsewhere. Following his gaze, she sees the spider glaring from the corner of the ship. Looking back at Mr. Silver, she watched his right eye start to darken to red, and reaches out to grab his hand. 

Silver's focus on the spider was broken when he felt a tug at his hand. Looking down, he sees Brielle holding his right hand, her eyes curious as she gets a good look at the robotics. In one quick motion he picks her up, resting her on his shoulder. "Time t'introduce ya to the crew," Silver tells her, and starts to head down to the deck. “And I want ya t’talk to each of ‘em, asking for their names. They need t’get to know you, so they trust ya.”

"I...um," Brielle's brow crinkles as she worries about how the crew will react to her. Silver holds onto her legs as he descends the stairs, making sure she did not fall. Once down, he walks to and leans against the center mast. He places Brielle on the deck in front of him. The pirates that had gathered looked at him, still in disbelief that they now had a child on the ship.

Looking around, he begins to address the crew, "Listen up you lot! This here, is Brielle. She is gonna be our new crew member. I want you all to be on your best behavior when you're around her! You will all respect her like ya do me, and if I find any of you aren't," Silver raised his arm, which swiveled to become a pistol, "You will regret that decision. Now, there will be NO arguments about her. I am the captain, and I made this decision. But, if you have anything to say, you will tell me directly," Silver looks around at his crew. No one wanted to meet his eyes. Smiling, he gave Brielle a light push forward so she was no longer hiding next to him. 

Her eyes widened looking at the crew. She looked back at Mr. Silver, and he waved her away. Taking a deep breath, she went right up to the closest crew member. "Um, hi, what's your name?" She asked the pirate, reaching out a hand. Thankfully, he was short, about the same height as her. His many eyes looked at her from under his hat.

"Me? I'm Onus," he reaches out his hand to shake hers. Brielle smiles, thinking that the crew might be much nicer than she thought.

She then went up to each crew member, shaking their many different sized hands, making the taller ones bend down to her. Silver watched her carefully, but stayed where he was, wanting to see how Brielle and the crew interacted without him hovering over her. Last, she came to the spider. He looked down at her, sneering as she walked up to him.

"Hi! What's your name?" She asked, her voice cheerful, after meeting the rest of the crew. Scroop pulled his lips back in a snarl, trying to scare her off. Not disheartened, she repeats her question, not noticing Mr.Silver had straightened from where he was leaning, and had taken a step towards her. Scroop continued looking at her, disgusted, his claws snapped as he tried to frighten her away. Brielle continued smiling up at him, but fear was beginning to form in her eyes. She knew Mr. Silver wouldn’t let the spider hurt her, but her past experience had made her wary when someone glared at her. She took a step back, but then crossed her arms. "Fine. If you don't tell me you name...I'll make one for you!" Brielle said, looking at him defiantly. She studied him for a moment, trying to find the best name. He had big, mean yellow eyes that shone very bright..."You're gonna be Mr. Bright! Cause your eyes are so bright!" Brielle exclaimed happily. She smiled to herself, thinking it was a great observation. She heard the rest of the crew laugh, and laughed with them, not knowing it was because of the name she gave Scroop.

"Well then lass, seems you've met everyone. Would ya' like som'thin' t'eat?" Silver placed his hand on Brielle's shoulder, but didn't take his eyes off Scroop. 

"Oh yes!" Brielle said, realizing that she was hungry. Silver gave her a small push towards the galley. He gave a nod to the rest of the crew, and they directed Brielle on her way. 

"Sso you're really doing thiss?" Scroop hisses once the rest of the crew had made it to the galley. 

"Ya' heard what I said Scroop! Or should I say Mr. Bright?" Silver chuckled at the name Brielle had given him, but then returned to his stern face. "What I told the crew also applies t'you, whether ya like it or not! Now I swear, if ya lay one claw on th'girl, so help me I will cook ya up and serve ya with butter!" Silver kept his voice down, but the threat was there. Scroop's eyes momentarily flashed fear, but he quickly regained himself. "Do ya understand?" Silver growled.

"Fine," Scroop stated, then turned away.

Remembering that he had left a five year old with a band of pirates, Silver hurried to the galley. The rest of the crew, wary of Silver and what he was capable of, were doing their best to make Brielle feel like she belonged. She was seated between Onus and Hedley, the two smallest of the crew. Brielle kept asking them questions, and the crew looked uncomfortable, but they answered as best they could. 

“Well, looks like you’re fittin’ in just fine here, Brielle,” Silver says, and Brielle looks up happily. 

“Mr. Onus says that I get to be captain!” She squealed excitedly, and Onus’ eyes lit up in alarm.

“W-well, no, I didn’t say that exactly capteen,” Onus tired to defend himself, but sees Silver laughing.

“Brielle, if ya’ want to be a captain, first thing ya gotta know is how t’tie your boots so they don’t come undone,” Silver says, and Brielle looks down at her untied boots. She grabs the laces, and starts fumbling with them, trying her best to tie them tight. While she tries her best at that, Silver places a cup of juice down in front of her, and turns to begin making breakfast for her.  _ Hm, maybe this won’t be that bad. _

After breakfast, Silver took Brielle around the ship, letting her explore a bit. She wandered and questioned everything, having never been able to before. Occasionally she would stop, and her eyes scrunched up and face reddened, tears threatening to fall. Trying hard not to worry about the past, she’d quickly recover and run to something new. Her energy seemed endless, a full stomach was rare to her, and she made sure to make it count. Silver often lost track of her, she would be looking at one thing, then quickly turn to something else, not giving him time to react. Then her excited voice would be shouting a question from the other end of the ship, and he’d do his best to answer before she ran off again.

“You’ve got quite a spark in ya’ lass,” Silver said as he caught up to her. She had stopped and was waiting for him. 

“Can you lift me up? I wanna look over the side,” Brielle loved the Eterium. The ways it’s colors swirled had made her feel like there was something out there for her. When her father would send her away, she would sit and stare into it for hours, imagining herself flying away into it. For a year she was a servant. For two she had felt the sting of bruises on her face. But now, she was free. The stories her mother would read to her brother held truth in their lines, pirates would do whatever they wanted. And that meant they could do good, like saving a little girl. She looked up as Mr. Silver grabbed her and placed her on a barrel. He kept one arm on her back, and for once, she felt safe. The Etherium was red with swirls of gold on one side, and darkening to purple on the other as they left the light of the star behind them. “I’m going to show father that I’m not nothing,” her voice was barely a whisper. Her small hands balled into fists and she stared straight ahead. The light reflecting on her grey eyes gave them a golden hue, and the brown in her hair had taken to red. Closing her eyes, she smiled and tilted her head up, letting the light glow around her. She let herself get lost in thoughts about how she was going to be worth something for once.

Silver, too, was lost in thought. Thoughts of fire and sinking ships. Thoughts of loss and sacrifice and dreams that were cut short. It had been ten years since those dreams were taken from him. He would not have seen himself as a pirate all those years ago, but then he took on a ruthless facade, and it slowly took over his true self. But Brielle had managed to find that last bit that had not been buried. It was a miracle, really, that he hadn’t killed her as soon as she walked into the room the night before. After seeing her stand up to him, he felt something he hadn’t in those ten years. Most grown men and women would’ve cried out or begged for mercy in her situation, but she stood up to him. Most of his crew wouldn’t challenge him. Thinking of the crew, he drops his hand from Brielle’s back, and walks up to Torrance and Hedley.

With the sudden loss of support, Brielle jumps off the barrel. Landing unevenly, she falls onto her face, but quickly pushes herself up. Her face reddened, but seeing no one looking at her, it fades. Deciding she was capable of wandering the ship herself, she begins to walk up to where the wheel was. She didn’t get far.

“Hi Mr. Bright!” Brielle smiles at the spider. He scowled at her, but she didn’t let it get to her. The rest of the crew had seemed comfortable with her around, she did her best not to annoy them, he wouldn’t be any different.

“You don’t belong here,” Scroop grunted at her. Her grey eyes grow big, and she takes a step back from the spider. 

“W-why not,” she does her best not to look scared, but her voice fails her. The spider’s malicious smile doesn’t help, and she takes another step back.

“You’re a child! And a human, no lesss. You’re not good for anything. The captain is jusst keeping you until you’re old enough to ssell,” Scroop steps towards her as he talks. Not wanting to back down, Brielle stands up straight, and holds her ground. Unlike last night, she was truly scared. She had got what she wanted, in a way, but now she wasn’t wishing for anything. What the spider said scared her, but she tried to look strong. 

“You’re lying!” Brielle’s small voice doesn’t carry far. Her small hands are once again in fists, and she looks up into Scroop’s bright yellow eyes. 

“Oh, I’m lying? I’ve been on thiss ship for eight yearss!  _ You _ haven’t for even a day,” Scroop hisses. Although he was lying, he thought scaring the child would get her to run away next time they docked. He glared down at the girl, who looked up at him defiantly. Her shoulders were drooped, and she had taken another step back, but her eyes didn’t show her fear. He snapped his claws, and her eyes quickly dropped. Knowing Mr. Silver was somewhere behind her, she turned and tried to run. Scroop caught her by the shoulder, and she froze. Too many times had that same thing happened, and she never liked to end of it. Her arms went up to her face, and she didn’t try to pull away when he turned her around. “Heh, you won’t even last a week,” he smirks, and lets go of Brielle’s arm. As soon as his grip loosened, she bolted, smacking his arm away as hard as she could. Her tiny legs propelled her forward, and she run to the mast, to find Mr. Silver.

Silver was still talking to Torrance and Hedley, and hadn’t heard the exchange between Brielle and Scroop. They were discussing when they would next be at a port, and what they would need to “purchase”. Brielle running into his leg got his attention, though. He looked down at the girl, who had her face buried into his coat, and was trying to stifle her sobs. Torrance turned to walk away, and Hedley held on to his top, they figured it would be safer for them. Silver knelt down next to Brielle, her face red and wet from crying.

“What happened, lass?” Silver spoke softly. Refusing to meet his eyes, she looked back over to where she had run from. Scroop was still standing there, now talking to Hands. Silver followed her gaze, and understood what had happened. “Oh, that spider, huh? Don’t pay no attention t’him lass. It ain’t worth ya time to let’im get t’ya,” Silver does his best to reassure her. She now meets his eyes, and nods. Silver pats her softly on the head, and stands up. “It’s gettin’ late, we best get ya’ t’bed,” he says, and she agrees with a yawn. They walk to his cabin, and Brielle stays close, as they had to pass Scroop on the way. Silver stares him down as they pass, but Scroop puts on his most innocent face. Brielle holds her head high and focuses straight ahead, doing her best not to let the spider get to her.

While he had followed Brielle around the ship, Silver had managed to get a small cot put together for Brielle to sleep in. She pulls the bandana off her head and stares down at it.

“You weren’t there to save me, were you?” she asks, still staring down at the bandana.

“No lass,” Silver responds with a sigh. She looks up, where Silver was expecting sadness or fear, was confusion.

“Then why did you? Mr. Bright said-.”

“Now what did I say about that spider?” Silver interrupts her. Her eyes return to the bandana, and he rubs his forehead. “When’s your birthday?” Silver asks, and she looks up confused. 

“The thirtieth day of the twelfth month. Why?” She was born on the last day of the standard year cycle, the only way she knew when it was. She liked her birthday, because her father gave her a break that day, and her mother and brother acknowledged her that day. Why Mr. Silver wanted to know confused her.

“We’ve got quite a bit o’time before then. If you’re still happy t’live on this ship by then, I’ll tell ya’ why I saved ya’,” Silver says, and lets Brielle think about it. She nods, and smiles up at him.

Silver leaves to let her change, and immediately goes to find Scroop. The spider was in the galley, playing a card game with some of the others.

“Scroop.” Silver growls. Those fortunate not to be named Scroop quickly got up and left, but peaked their heads in, curious on what was going down. 

“What iss it, captain?” Scroop hisses, a smile on his face.

“I told ya’ t’leave the girl alone! Touch her again, and you’ll be kicked off this ship, whether we’re docked or not!” Silver yells in his face. He had taken a few steps forward. and was staring into the yellow eyes. Not seeing fear hidden anywhere within them, Silver decides he needed some convincing. Grabbing Scroop roughly by the arm, he drags him out of the galley. His one eye glowing red, Silver throws Scroop to the ground, and stares down at him. The crew that had been in the galley gathers in a loose circle. Scroop stands up, rubbing his arm where he had been grabbed. Without warning, he lunges at Silver. Expecting something like it, Silver steps to the side, and strikes Scroop hard with the palm of his metal arm. The blow knocked the wind out of Scroop. Recovering his breath, he makes a smart choice, and hangs his head low.

“If ya’ thought I was bluffin’, ya’ might wan’ta rethink it,” Silver bellows, and walks away. Scroop was going to be tough to work with, but hopefully he had learned to leave the girl alone.

Returning to his cabin, Brielle was already asleep, a peaceful look upon her face. Silver sighs, and lays down on his own bed.  
  
  


* * *

The first week was not as easy as Silver had thought it would be. While there were no more Scroop incidents, Brielle was hard to keep track of. Silver decided it was best to keep her busy, and try to teach her basic skills. She learned quickly when she was focused, but her curiosity distracted her. The crew did their best to watch her when Silver was busy, but her constant questions were taxing on their patience.

“What does that do?” “Why do you need to do that?” “Can I try?” “How does that work?”

Brielle was happy for the most part. Occasionally she would think of her family, but the few days she had been on this ship were better than any of her last two years.

The second week was a bit better, and Brielle’s questions had slowed. Silver decided to go after a nearby ship, as they still needed to do their work. He left Brielle with Turnbuckle on the ship, figuring he seemed capable of watching her. She watched intently from the side of the ship, not able to see much, until Turnbuckle gave her a spyglass. Maybe not the best idea, because as soon as the rest of the crew returned, she questioned every action they had taken. Silver did his best to explain, but she didn’t always understand.

It took a month until Brielle was comfortable on the ship. It was also when she made her first mistake.

“Ya’ done with that?” Silver asked, pointing to Brielle’s plate. She had finished her lunch, excited to leave. She was helping patch up a small section of the engine, by holding onto the small parts.

“Yes! Thanks Da’” she smiles, but it fades as soon as the last word leaves her mouth. Silver looks down, shocked as he, too, processes what she said. Brielle opens her mouth to cover what she said, but instead chooses to run out and down to the engine.

She does her best to avoid Mr. Silver the rest of the day. But when she gets tired, she realizes she will have to face him. Walking into the cabin, she hangs her head down, trying to avoid his gaze.

“Hey lass,” Silver says. He had been thinking about her calling him “Da” all day. 

“I’m sorry,” Brielle says, and looks up at him. He smiled at her, and reaches out to give her a hug. 

“Ya’ don’t need t’say that lass, is alright,” he says softly. “Just, try not t’call me it in front of the crew, got it?” She nods.

In the second month, they went to port. Silver gave Brielle a small bag of coins, and let her wander close to him. The first thing she bought was a true book. She wanted to know how to read, and hoped that Silver would teach her. She held the book tightly, and followed Silver out of the store. Deciding she wanted to get something for Silver, she bought him a new red bandana. When they returned to the ship, Brielle was proud of what she had bought. After her book and the bandana for Silver, she had found a pair of socks that she liked, as well as a scarf, which she had to wrap around five times to keep it from dragging on the floor. She hid the remaining coins in her pocket. 

She gave Silver the bandana before she went to sleep, and after she had convinced him to read her a few pages in her book. Surprised, he unfolded it, and swapped it for the one he was already wearing, and gave her a hug.

The third month of Brielle being aboard coincided with the sixth month of the year cycle. About two weeks in, they went down to a planet called Proteus One. Brielle was allowed to stay on one of the long boats, and she was once again left in the care of Turnbuckle. The planet itself seemed pretty bare. There were great, big, tree-like things that gave off a light blue glow. There was a body of water crashing on a beach a few feet from where the long boats were hovering. Brielle did her best to try and convince Turnbuckle to let her go by the water, but he’d rather not see her hurt and have Silver come after him. Instead he went down, and found small rocks for her to throw into the water. It kept her entertained until she heard the rest of the crew coming back.

She turned around to face them, and she could see everyone running. A few seconds later, she saw a giant, feline creature chasing after them. While it looked fearsome, something was off on it, as every few steps it would trip over its own legs. The crew managed to get to the long boats, and as they started to return, the creature split into dozens of small blobs. They were all light shades of blue, pink, and purple, and looked like floating jelly. 

“Heh, it was worth all that trouble,” Silver says, and Brielle looks over. There was a small chest, filled with some kind of gemstones. Looking down, she smiled at her reflection in them, making her face a rainbow of different colors. Then one moved.

“Um, Mr. Silver?” Brielle reaches in, and picks up the one that had moved. It felt hard like a stone should, but she knew it moved. She ran her finger down it, and the stone let out what sounded like a giggle. The crew that was on that boat all turned to look at the stone.

“Oh no, we took one with us!” Silver exclaims, and takes it from Brielle. The stone’s shape began to deform, and developed into a bright pink. The small blob looked around with big eyes, and let out a shrill chirp, nestling itself onto Silver’s hat.

“Next time I wanna pet!” Brielle says once the boats had docked on the ship. The blob hadn’t moved, but occasionally let out small chirps. Silver removed his hat and placed it on a barrel, and the blob looked up at him with its big eyes. It let out a few chirps, and squished itself down into the hat. 

“Brielle? Go get me a crust o’bread from the galley please,” Silver sends the girl off, but keeps an eye on the blob. She returns quickly, and looks over curiously at the hat. Silver breaks the bread in half and offers it to the blob. It reaches out with tiny stubs and grasps the piece, quickly devouring it. When offered the other half, it chirps happily, and lets out a small burp after eating it. It nuzzled against Silver’s neck, and happily flew in circles around his head.

The next few months passed by quickly. Brielle became proficient at tying various knots, and the crew, except for Scroop, actually began to enjoy having her around. She stopped asking questions, and observed what they did. The blob became known as Morph, and buzzed happily around Silver most of the time. Silver got nervous as the twelfth month of the year cycle neared its end. He had hoped Brielle would forget what he had promised her those months ago. As the month drew to a close, her energy levels seemed to rocket. She was constantly running about the ship, and the day before her birthday she ran a few dozen laps around it. Silver had managed to line it up perfectly so that they would be stopping at a port on the day. 

Brielle was the first awake on her birthday. She didn’t even stop to wake Mr. Silver, she just ran out, dancing happily around the ship. She climbed up on a barrel, and smiled, seeing the port not too far in the distance. She jumped down, and spun in happy circles, and Morph joined her in the joy. Dizziness hit her, and she fell down onto a pile of rope, Morph nuzzling the side of her face. She laid there, letting her head stop spinning, and remembers something Mr. Silver had told her months ago. She decided to wait until he got up to begin pestering him about it.

As soon as Silver stepped out of his cabin, Brielle rushed up to him. Words bubbled happily out of her mouth, not in the most coherent fashion. He rubs a hand across his eye, trying to get rid of the last bit of sleep. Patting Brielle’s head got her to stop for a second, so he could try and understand her. It didn’t help much.

“It’smybirthday!Thisissocool!Whatarewegonnado? _ Irememberyousaidyouwouldtellmesomething _ !” all the words blended together in Silver’s mind, but the last sentence got his attention.

“Say that again lass? But, slower this time,” he says, and watches Brielle take a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. 

“You said, you would, tell me, something,” Brielle made sure to leave lots of room between her words. “About, why you, saved me,” she finishes. Knowing that she wouldn’t stop asking him until he told her, Silver sighs.

“Alright,” he motions her into the cabin. Sinking into his chair, he rubs the back of his neck. Not sure how to start, he picks Brielle up and sits her on his lap. “Now, this happened quite a few years ago.  
  
  


* * *

Sometimes, things don't work out that way you plan. Sometimes, dreams that seem so close, are farther than you can imagine. Sometimes you fall in love with the wrong person. Sometimes half your body gets burned and has to be replaced by metal. Sometimes all of that happens in the span of a few years and you become a pirate.

Believe it or not, John was once a young man. He lived on Ursa with his mother for half of every year, and spent the other half on ships with his father. His father was a pirate, and taught him how to fly a ship, tie knots, who to pick fights with and who not to. His mother ran a small store, and taught him how to cook, how to care for wounds (that happened a lot when he tried to pick fights) and to care for others. When he was fifteen, he decided to stay with his mother, and not pursue pirating with his father. His father approved of his decision, and still visited when he got the chance. For growing up with his parented separated like they were, John had great relationships with both of them. 

When he was twenty, he fell in love. Her name was Emily, and she had wandered into his mother’s store one late afternoon. Like most Ursid women, her hair was long and dark, and she had it pulled back into a braid high on her head. He didn’t take much notice of her, plenty of girls his age came in, and to him they all were the same. He occasionally wished he had gone with his father, there were many more interesting people to meet when you were a pirate. But Emily wanted to get his attention, in the only way she knew how. Grabbing a small bag of fruit off a shelf in direct sight of John, she stuffs it in her pocket, and turns to leave. 

Without hesitation, John vaults over the counter, and grabs her by the arm. She looks up, and were fear from getting caught was to be expected, her golden eyes lit up, and her mouth was spread in a grin. Caught off guard, John stutters, “You, um, need to pay for that,” and he feels his face rush red. Still holding onto one arm, he holds the other out, expecting her to place the fruit in it. Instead, she interlocks her fingers in his, still smiling up at him. John drops his hand from her arm, and stares at the hand entwined with his own. She drops her hand, retrieves the fruit and places it in his, still frozen from shock. Giving him one more smile, she turns and leaves.

Three years later, they were married. It was small and short, but perfect, in John’s opinion. He and Emily moved into a house down the road from his mother. In the three years, Emily had begun working at the store, and with a small edition, it had become a cafe, where John and his mother cooked. Everything seemed to be going right in his life. A year later, Emily gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. John absolutely loved his children, and he worked endlessly to make sure they always had everything they needed and wanted. 

  
  


“I wish you were my real da’” Brielle says, leaning her head against Silver.

“Heh, I’m tryin’ my best, lass.”

  
  


When the twins, Olivia and Thomas, were old enough to walk, John and Emily would take them on adventures through the forests surrounding the town. As John was getting the kids ready to leave, Emily came down, complaining of a cold. She refused John staying, saying she would survive a few hours without him and the kids. So they left. Usually staying out for three hours or more, John decided to bring them back early, wanting to make sure Emily was alright. They stopped by the store, and his mother made a bowl of soup, that she guaranteed would “kick the ass of any illness”. Carrying the soup in one hand, Thomas sitting on his shoulders, and holding Olivia in the other, they returned to the house. 

Once inside, he left Olivia and Thomas in the living room, and headed up the stairs to his room, assuming Emily would be in there resting. Oh, Emily was. And so was Kenneth, one of John’s closest and oldest friends. The three of them looked around at each other, not knowing what to say. It was a good thing John had spent more time with his mother. If he had been with his father, Kenneth would’ve been been thrown out the window without a word. Instead, John just slammed the door, retrieved the kids, and walked back to his mother’s house. 

The kids were confused, but they liked going to grandma’s house, she always gave them lots of cookies. John sat down on the couch, found a video book, and placed in front of the kids, keeping them distracted. They clapped happily, leaning on eachother, content with the book. John watched them, millions of thoughts rushing in and out of his head. Not long later his mother came up, as soon as she was free. The kids rushed up to her, babbling about cookies. Giving them each one, she sits down beside John, concern in her eyes. He looks down at the kids, then stands, and motions her to join him near the window. Looking out, he could see his house, and anger boiled inside him, balancing the sadness in his heart.

“I um, we were, um” John couldn’t bring himself to say what had happened. He looked at his mother. Sadness won over, and tears escaped from his eyes, while his mother pulled him into a hug. “Like I told ya’ earlier, Emily said she wasn’t feeling well,” John starts, trying to collect himself. “So when we got back, I thought I’d surprise her with your soup,” he looks back out the window, anger now rising in him. “She wasn’t in the living room, so I assumed she was in the bedroom. She was. And so was Kenneth,” John punched the wall beside the window as he said the name. His best friend. How could he? How could Emily? He had always been a good husband, right? “I-I don’t understand. What did I do wrong?” John felt like his world was falling apart.

“You did nothin’ wrong dear. You’ve been a good father and husband. If Emily can’t see that, you make sure both of them know who you are. I want you t’go back over there. Challenge him. Show them that they made a mistake!” no one hurts her son and gets away with it. “Hell! If I was a few years younger, I’d be chasin’ ‘em down the street with me’ frying pan! Oh! also, remind them who your father is. That should send Kenneth runnin’, at least,” she smirked. She was a tough old woman, and no one was allowed to hurt her son and get away with it. “I’ll watch the kids. You go. Now.” she all but throws John out the door, who stops to pat the kid’s heads before he leaves.

Oh, John showed them alright. Emily and Kenneth were in the living room, when John returned. Kenneth looked absolutely terrified as John swung the door open. Kenneth had watched him fight when they were still in school. John had learned how to fight from a pirate, and knew how to take down those much bigger than him. And Kenneth was smaller. Deciding running might be a better option, he tries to sneak around John. Only to get a fist straight to the face. Revising his plan, Kenneth takes an aggressive stance. He lunges at John, who grabs him by the scruff and belt. John takes a step, and literally throws Kenneth out the door. 

Word traveled fast in the small town, so a small group had assembled outside the door. Bets were already being placed when Kenneth flew out the door. He scrambles to his feet, and John walks out. He had Emily by the arm, and swung her into the crowd. Kenneth, again, lunges at John, this time catching him off guard, managing to get him to stumble. The two fought brutally. It was a long fight, neither would back down. John had had enough after Kenneth got a punch into his face. He lunged, and grabbed Kenneth’s arm, twisting it until there was a sickening crack. Howling in pain, Kenneth went limp and fell to the ground when John released him. Knowing he won, John turned to Emily. She tried to stutter out an apology, explain herself, but he would have none of it. He loomed over her, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Then turned, and walked into his house, slamming the door behind him.

“I don’t like Emily, she’s mean,” Brielle comments.

“I don’t like her much either.”

John took the kids and left after that. First, he traveled to the nearby planet Sustin, and they lived there for a year and a half. His father visited them, and gave John the idea of going on a trip, for the few months before he’d be sending the kids to school. John had missed the freedom of the open air in the Etherium, and thought a boat trip would be good for the kids. He could teach them some skills, and it would certainly help him get over Emily. It had been over a year, but the wounds of betrayal were still fresh in his heart. So, he rented a small boat, and took the kids around the solar system.

The kids did their best to help their father. Not exactly understanding why they left, or why their mother wasn’t with, they were happy. John didn’t know how to explain to his kids what had happened, and they had been too young during the incident. But they never asked, so he never had to tell them. A few weeks into the trip, and he was actually happy, for the first time. They were in orbit around Molnar, the planet closest to the sun. They were in the small galley, cooking dinner, when looked out the window, and saw a ship in the distance. Not thinking anything of it, John turned back to the kids.

After dinner, they played a strange game Thomas had made up, which involved balancing a purp on your head while doing a variety of different tasks like hopping on one foot, or tying different knots. Somehow, Olivia won, and John was lost on how points were earned or lost. But, he let it go, and sent the kids to bed. He gave them each a hug, and tucked them in. He shut the door most of the way, so if one had a nightmare, he could hear them and rush in,he went to his room across the hall. Laying in bed, he smiled, thinking this had been a great idea.

“You should teach me to cook!” Brielle says. “Also, I’m hungry.”

“Well, let’s get ya’ somethin’ t’eat, and I’ll continue my story.”

John had drifted into sleep. The gentle murmur of the ship’s engine was comforting to him, it sent him back to his childhood. The sound of a cannon being fired woke him almost immediately. That shot had missed the small ship, but the next one didn’t, rocking the small ship, and throwing John to the floor. Times with his father had taught him that his first objective should be to get to the wheel, and get them out of there. 

But as soon as he opened his door, his only thoughts were off his children. He rushed into their room, but neither were there. That’s when panic set in. He’d been on a ship under attack, that wouldn’t faze him. Not knowing where his children were, that would make him break down. He turned, and left the room, yelling their names, as the ship began to fill with smoke. A fire had broken out, but he had no time to stop it. Running up the stairs to the deck, he looks to the ship attacking him. He couldn’t identify the flag, besides that it was definitely a pirate ship. Another cannon shot impacts the ship, and the stabilizers stopped working. They were plummeting to Molnar below. Knowing that there was little chance to get out of this, he ran to find the kids. 

Back below, John starts to yell their names. Smoke obscured his vision, and the fire burned away around him. He heard movement, and chased after it. Turning a corner, he sees small legs running. Shouting after them, he tries to run, but the smoke had filled his lungs, and he had to stop he began coughing so hard. Regaining a small breath, he rushed forward, hearing the kids whimpering. Breaking through a thick cloud of smoke, his heart shatters. Olivia laid on the floor, Thomas was beside her, screaming, shaking her, trying to get her to wake up. Before John could reach them, Thomas, too, was on the floor, no longer moving. 

“Are you ok?” Brielle’s worry knocks Silver out of his memory. 

“Eh, I’ve been worse. Haven’t thought about this in a long while, though.”

After what felt like an eternity, Silver reaches the children. He desperately searches for a pulse on either of them, not noticing the fire that had begun to lick at him. No longer having something to live for, John leaned against the wall, not caring what happened to him. He felt fire grasp his arm and leg, but he didn’t care. He was holding the children to his chest, tears escaping his eyes not from the fire and smoke, but from losing them. Going numb, he let out a cry, wanting death to take him.

He would’ve died there, if his father hadn’t been nearby. His crew chased off the other pirates, and quickly boarded John’s small ship. They found him, barely alive, half of him charred, still holding the children protectively. They rushed him to a hospital, his father paying whatever the cost to keep him alive. John slept for two months, drifting close to consciousness, but quickly falling back under.

His first question, when he did finally wake up, was where Olivia and Thomas were. The solemn look from the doctors were all the answer he needed. There was no emotion in him. He didn’t even notice that his right arm, leg, eye, and ear were metal. Not until his parents visited him the next day, and he reached out to give his mother a hug, did he notice. 

After a few months of healing and learning the basics of his new cybernetics, he was released from the hospital. Back in the town on Ursa, he asked his father questions and questions on why he was attacked. It turns out, his father knew who was in possession of an incredible map, to a treasure beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The captain of the attacker’s ship had learned that John was on the small ship, and figured it would draw him out. It did, but they underestimated John’s father. 

It took a year, but after John felt comfortable with his cybernetics, he made a decision. He was going to become a true pirate. He made it his goal to find the treasure, and then kill the one that had taken his children from him.

The treasure, it seemed, did not want to be found. He had tracked down the man his father knew about, but the map was long gone from him. They weren’t sure who the attacker was, so John couldn’t chase them either. But he continued as a pirate, becoming well known and feared among pirates, just like his father. His heart had become stone, rarely did he show mercy.

“Until you met me?” 

“Yes lass. Ya’ remind me of Olivia. Strong and determined. Ya’ sure y’ain’t part Ursid?” Silver smiles at her. They were almost to port. Brielle hugs him, her tiny arms trying to wrap around his large body. He wraps his flesh arm around her, and stands up. “Now, I don’t want ya tellin’ anyone about this, ya hear?” he says sternly. She nods, and they leave his cabin, watching the ship dock at the port. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
By the time of Brielle’s seventh birthday, the crew all referred to her as Silver’s daughter. She was occasionally called Ms. Silver, and often introduced as Brielle Silver. It had taken nearly two years, but she felt like she belonged there. While she was still young, Brielle was becoming a pirate herself. Silver was slowly teaching her everything that his parents had taught him, and what he had wanted to teach his own kids. Scroop still didn’t like her, but instead of confronting, he just ignored her. Silver felt like that was better than forcing them to interact, so he let it go. 

When she turned eight, Silver taught Brielle how to fight. He didn’t want her to be a pirate, but since she was, she had better have all the necessary skills. The fighting style of an Ursid, however, was much different than that of humans, and other smaller races. But Brielle did her best, taking elements of Ursid fighting, and making them work for her. After she had gotten the hang of hand-to-hand, SIlver bought her two swords. One small and light, that she could practice with now, and one full sized one, that he hoped she could work up to. Sword fighting became her favorite activity, attacking small targets that Silver set up for her. 

For her ninth birthday, the crew actually bought her a laser gun. They didn’t tell Silver, figuring he wouldn’t approve of it. They presented it to her, and she would’ve killed them, had it been loaded. After a short talk with the crew, making it clear that they should’ve run it by him first, Silver did his best to teach Brielle how to shoot. After a few months, her aim was nearly perfect. Everyday she would switch off between guns, swords, and unarmed fighting. Then she would pick one crew member to follow around, making sure she learned as much as she could.

She also was given a hammock in the crew’s quarters. The first few nights, she was worried, but hey had set her up as far from Scroop as possible. After a week sleeping in there, all her worry disappeared, and she actually enjoyed it. The crew would stay up talking, gossiping, swapping stories. Unlike Silver, the crew didn’t try to censor their stories and much. They would leave out the more gruesome details, but there was still lots of blood and other things not appropriate for a nine year old.

On her tenth birthday, Brielle told Silver she wanted to go with next time they raided another ship. Telling her no, and not listening to arguments, he wouldn’t let her say anything about it. But that didn’t mean Brielle wasn’t going to sneak on. She had been raised by pirates for almost five years, being told she couldn’t go was not going to stop her.

A week after being told no, they came upon a ship slightly smaller than their own. It was a trader ship, full of goods they couldn’t wait to get a hold of. As the crew clamored into the long boats, no one noticed Brielle, hiding in a pile of rope. The crew of the trader ship didn’t see them until the long boats were right beside the ship, the pirate crew swinging themselves on to the deck. Brielle too swung out, and ran and ducked through the combat. 

She saw Silver being attacked on either side, but not noticing someone creeping up on his back. Seeing the trader’s sword drawn, Brielle rushes forward. She slid down, crashing into the trader’s four legs, unbalancing him. Kicking a leg up into his jaw, she pulls her own sword, standing with her back to Silver’s. “Don’t touch m’Da!” she yells, swinging the sword down on to the trader’s left legs. Content that he couldn’t move, she turns to see how her father was. He hadn’t heard her cry, he was too busy defending both sides, when one trader would back up, the other would step forward. 

Thinking quickly, Brielle jumps in front of the one on his left side, who had begun advancing. She brandishes her sword, pointing it at the trader. He looks in fear at his comrade, who was whimpering in pain, unable to move his sliced up legs. While he was stunned, she kicks her right leg out into his sword arm, causing him to fumble the sword. Stepping forward and kicking with her left, the sword flies into the air, which she catches gracefully. Almost dancing, she spins, flourishing the two swords, holding hers straight out, and the one she had obtained above her head. The trader retreats, getting caught in a laser blast as he runs. Satisfied, she turns to face Silver, who had taken out the other trader. He gave her a stern, angry look, but didn’t have time to handle her. She ran off, dancing through the combat, twisting gracefully around swords, narrowly dodging laser blasts.

After the pirates had gotten all the loot they could load, they once again climbed into the long boats. Trying to avoid Silver, Brielle tried to hop into one, but he caught her by the back of her coat. Knowing that fight against him wouldn’t help her in anyway, she crossed her arms, pouting. Silver held her in one arm, pinning her arms to her sides so she couldn’t move. The crew tried to avoid her gaze, not wanting to get in trouble with the captain.

Once aboard their ship, Silver set Brielle down, letting her try to defend herself. Knowing lying wouldn’t work, she tells him the truth. She thought she would be fine, going out with them. And she was. “If I wasn’t there, that big four legged guy would’a got you!” she acts out her entire time on the trader’s ship. Reluctantly agreeing that she was capable of defending herself, Silver agrees to let her go on the less dangerous missions. 

Wandering a port halfway through her eleventh year, Brielle meets some other kids a few years older than her. She sat with them for a few hours, learning they all went to a specialty academy. You had to test into it, but the programs they had left Brielle’s head spinning. She wanted to be a pirate like her father, but if she could get into this school, she could learn anything her heart desired. One of the professors chaperoning the kids gave her two pamphlets about the school, when testing was, where the school was, what kinds of classes there were. Excitedly thanking the professor, and saying goodbye to the others, she ran to find Silver. She stuffed the pamphlets inside her coat, and weaved in and out of storefronts, looking for the cyborg. Finding him arguing over the price of a barrel of purps, Brielle stood next to him, making faces at the shopkeeper. 

After finally lowering the price to a reasonable amount, Silver walked out, Brielle skipping in circles around him. It made him laugh, seeing this young girl happily skipping, looking innocent as can be, when he had seen her nearly kill someone. He reached out his right hand, and she wrapped her fingers around the metal, still skipping, but now less likely to cause trouble. 

They stopped at a cafe, Silver buying her a cup of tea. She sipped it, calming herself down, and pulled the pamphlet out. Giving him the biggest, sweetest smile she could, she handed it to him, and takes another sip of tea. Glancing over the cover, Silver raises an eyebrow at her. He opens it, and skims over the information, face not giving away his thoughts. “Please, Da’? At least let me take the test?” she squeaks out, her excitement fading, being replaced by nervousness.

Silver stuffed the pamphlet in his pocket, and didn’t say anything about it. He would love give Brielle the chance, but he didn’t want to lose her. Also, he wasn’t sure how well it would go over with the school, having a student whose father was a pirate. But Brielle was persistent. She read over the pamphlet she still had whenever she had time. She would casually mention it whenever she could.

She had to be twelve to take the test. It just so happened that the test was two weeks after her birthday, and Silver had given in. He let the crew have a short shore leave, while he took Brielle to the test. Before they left the ship, Silver and Brielle went over her story. Her family was killed by pirates, and she was going to be sold into slavery. Silver had rescued her, and raised her as his own. There was quite a few people that had gone through similar situations, so it was likely that no one would question much of it. They arrived at the academy at the beginning of registration time, and it was already flooded with families. After waiting in a line, they made their way to a table, and Silver stared down at the paper.

Student name: Artis Brielle O’Connor

Gender: Female

Race: Human

Birthdate: 12.30.302-91

Address: 1302 Rhine Road, Andromer Town, 

Country: Iterm

Planet: Ursa 

Parent(s)/ Guardian(s) name: John Silver

Parent(s)/ Guardian(s) Occupation: Sailor

He had put down his mother’s address, as it was the only one he knew. After filling out the paperwork, and the man at the table checking it over, Silver let out a sigh of relief when he approved it. Following to the next path, families and children were to be separated. Giving Brielle a hug, and wishing her good luck, Silver watches her leave through a door, and he sighs. Workers buzzed around, direction families to different rooms showcasing the academy’s programs, and offering refreshments. Silver wandered in and out of all the rooms, until finally he just sat down at a table, waiting for his daughter to return.

Once she left Silver, Brielle stuck close to a few other girls that had gone in at the same time. They came up to a table that was handing out free items just for participating, as well as giving them their room assignments. Taking as much as she could, Brielle walked to the room. there were about fifty desks set up, and she quickly found the one with her name. She scowled at the name Artis, but understood why her father had written it. Taking her seat as the room began to fill up, excitement bubbled in her. Every time they went to port between the time she had gotten the pamphlet and then, she had grabbed as many books as she could, and read them all intently. She was ready for whatever the test threw at her. 

The first question on the test sent a groan around the room, but Brielle smiled. It was about pirate history, which she knew inside and out. Finishing with about ten minutes left, she sat quietly at her desk, wanting to hear the results right then. As soon as they were dismissed, she ran to find Silver. 

_ Dear Ms. O’Connor, it is with great pleasure that we welcome you into the Shoal Academy. After carefully reviewing your test, it has shown that you have great potential over a variety of subjects. A meeting will be held on 2.13.302-102, to complete your registration. If you have any questions or concerns about the academy, we are always happy to help. Hope to see you in a few weeks. _

_ Regards, _

_ Dr. Sholen _

_ Director of Admissions _

_ Shoal Academy _

They stopped on Ursa to pick up the letter. Brielle bounced off the walls from the excitement (and from eating nearly a dozen cookies her grandmother had given her). Silver was incredibly proud of Brielle’s score, looking at a chart that came with. She was in the top scorers, and she had been teaching herself most of the subjects.

The night before the meeting, Brielle could not sleep. She laid in her hammock for a while, listening to the crew’s varying breathing. Giving up trying to sleep, she went up to the deck, taking her blanket and pillow with her. Moving around some barrels, she folds her blanket to give herself some padding, and lays down. She stared out into the Etherium, its color blue with wisps of purple. She thought back to her first day on the ship. It had been nearly seven years since then. She couldn’t remember much about her real family. She remembered being hit quite a lot. Sometimes, she could still see their frozen faces, stuck in silent screams. But, she had a new family now. She had a father, and grandparents, and many uncles, as she called the crew. It had been strange growing up on a ship, but she learned a lot. Just from listening to the crew, she could hold a conversation in most of their native languages. She knew how to take care of a ship, and how to drive one. Looking down at her hands, she recalled every time she had injured someone. She could be a great pirate, if she wanted to be. Maybe she could be a captain one day. But, she wanted more than that. She wanted to learn, maybe have a  _ legal  _ job one day. This was her chance. She grasped the locket hanging around her neck. For her tenth birthday, her father had gifted her with the necklace, the chain made of steel and silver. The front had the Silver family crest on it. It was blue, meaning strength, with a black stripe, meaning meaning reliability and protection.  _ Live for yourself  _ was written in the Ursine language above, and  _ Silver  _ was written below the stripe.  _ Brielle Silver _ was carved into the back. Inside, three short holo pictures would cycle through. The first, when she received her first sword. Second, her giving Silver a hug. The last was her and the crew, all with weapons drawn, a huge smile on her face. Brielle watched the cycle a few times, rubbing her fingers over the carvings on either side. Letting out a sigh, she closes the locket, returning her gaze to the Etherium.

Brielle didn’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly blinking in the gold Etherium, she knew she must have. Rolling on to her side, she realizes it was a mistake, as she crashes on to the deck. She lays there for a moment, working up motivation to right herself, when a flash of pink swims past her, nuzzling into her neck. Feeling encouraged by Morph, she gets up, rubbing her right knee, that had taken a lot of her weight. Seeing her father walking across the deck towards her, she limps as fast as she can to him, embracing him in a hug, and starts talking rapidly, remembering what day it was. Quickly forcing down a breakfast, Brielle grabbed her clothes for that day, running into Silver’s cabin, locking him out. Since she had moved into the crew’s quarters, she had been forced to use their bathroom, but she wasn’t going to today. Quickly bathing, she pulls on her clothes. When they had been on Ursa, and she found out she had been excepted, her grandmother had taken her shopping. Her pants were black, with blue lace down the outsides. Her shirt was an off white, and a light fabric that almost floated around her. Her father had bought her a new coat, a long, black Messian leather, with deep pockets on the outside, two hidden ones on the inside, and spaces to hold her sword and a gun. The top part had blue lace, like her pants, down the front, while the bottom flowed out like a cape. Pulling on the boots, they completed the outfit. Black leather work boots going up to mid calf, she could run, climb, and fight with ease in them. The seams had alternating silver and red thread, and the laces were blue. She braided her hair, to keep her curls in check, and looked into the mirror. Realizing what she forgot, she pressed earring into her ears, and decided to keep her locket hanging inside her shirt. Now content with her appearance, she held her head up high, and left the cabin.

She and Silver walked off the ship, falling in line with other families beginning to arrive. They were herded into rooms, about twenty families each. They were handed a stack of papers with information, as well as a few forms that had to be filled out. Brielle and a few other children began to buzz excitedly about the school. After the last family had entered, a few people walked in, explaining what the school was, and began to talk about cost. While expensive, there was going to be an opportunity to lower, or even get rid of the cost entirely. There was going to be a contest of sorts, that all the prospective students could take part in. It would go through intellectual, physical, and creative areas, and the top ten would go through another round, with the top scorer’s tuition being eliminated, the second’s being dramatically decreased, and so on. The professor that had been explaining the contest then handed out more forms, for those interested to fill out. Brielle took it excitedly, and was the first to hand it back in.

After spending about an hour in that room, they were once again herded out. This time, they were sent into a stadium, children sent onto the floor, and families directed into the stands. Of the three hundred children accepted, two hundred and fifty had signed up for the contest. Brielle sat down between a Serpent and a Felinine, striking up conversations with them. Someone began to speak, and the stadium hushed. 

After welcoming them into the contest, the voice directed groups of the children into different sections of the floor. The first contest Brielle was in was the creative section. They were given the task of building a model ship, which seemed easy enough. Each child was given paper, wood, string, and a pair of cutters. Looking at the tools she was given, Brielle tries her best to create a ship.

The next test was the intellectual section. They were individually asked math, history, and science questions. But the last question was a riddle. _What is it that's always coming but never arrives?_ Thinking for a moment, Brielle answers confidently, “tomorrow”. The instructor types something down on their data pad, and send Brielle off to wait for the last test.

For the final test, the children had to demonstrate they were not only capable a problem solving, but to do so under pressure. There were ten lanes, Brielle standing in line for one. The children were given a wooden pole, and a vest was placed around them. Harmless lasers were shot, and the goal was to progress through an obstacle course full of puzzles, while trying not to get hit. Brielle made it out in record time, instead of completing puzzles to open the gates between levels, she vaulted and climbed over them. Silver, who was watching from the stands, laughed the entire time she was in the last section. As soon as they let Brielle go, she ignored the puzzles completely, taking the more direct route. He watched her using the pole to vault over the first two gates. A few parents near Silver wondered what he was laughing at, but followed his gaze, until they were all watching Brielle climb over the gates. On the last one, she stood at the top, surveying her surroundings, seeing how the other children were getting through. She laughed at the ones stumped on the obstacles, and jumped to the exit. After her vest was removed, she was directed back to where they started, and she once again to a seat between the Serpent and the Felinine.

After about half an hour, the announcer once again speaking. They first congratulated everyone on their participation, and then began listing off names.

_ Taluum Swolot _

_ Katrin Damia _

_ Robert Thatcher _

_ Will Robins _

_ Char Twilline _

_ Margot Wells _

_ Zamian Zelop _

_ Kalum Reegar _

_ Nel Likoto _

_ Artis O’Connor _

Brielle nearly screamed, hearing her name. She jumped out of her seat, running to stand in line with the others who were called. A round of applause went off for the ten children, and Brielle beamed. They were directed onto a stage, their families called down. She jumped into her father’s arms, who told her how funny it was watching her do the last test. 

Ten professors came out, each taking a student and their family into a room. Doctor Dahl, the professor Brielle was assigned to, was a physics professor. She was an Avian, small wings stuck out of her back, and feathers replaced what would be hair. She, too, laughed, having watched Brielle go through the last course. Letting Brielle wander around the room, which was covered in star maps and various scientific models and instruments. 

“For the next test, it will be a group effort, the prospective student and their family. Seeing as there’s only the two of you, the tasks might be more difficult.”

“You haven’t seen Artis in action then, she’s got quite a spark in her.”

“That last course was more than proof of that. If you both do manage through without much trouble, I’d bet you’d get first or second place. For the first task, we will go to the field outside, and each family will need to fly a small ship from one side to the other.”

“I can do that myself!” Brielle says, studying a map.

“I bet you can. The second will be all calculations, trying to find the correct amount of a substance to add to another, that will produce the wanted reaction. The last, will be to build a functioning solar surfer.”

“That’s it? Sounds easy enough for the two of us, right, Artis?”

“Yeah, Da’!”

Doctor Dahl lead them out of the room, and outside, into the field. A few families were already walking around their assigned ship. Walking up the gangplank, Silver and Brielle studied the small ship. It was like a full size ship, scaled down to about a quarter the size. “This is gonna be soo easy,” Brielle says, looking over the controls. And it was, for them anyway. As soon as the announcer yelled go, Brielle and Silver had the ship up, and were halfway across before some of the families even had the engine working. They walked off the ship, and waited for the next test.

The next two were slightly more difficult than the last, but they got through them well enough. When they returned to hear the results, Brielle was confident, knowing they did well. Hearing the names listed off in reverse. It came down to the last three, and  _ Artis _ hadn’t been called yet. She was excitedly hopping from leg to leg, only staying in one place because Silver had caught her arm. “In third, Taluum!” She was in the top two! “In second place, Zamian!” Brielle just stopped. She didn’t know what to do, so she wrapped her arms around her father’s metal one, waiting for her name to be called. “And, congratulations, Artis!” She ran up, and accepted the award.

* * *

  
  


Life without Brielle was less exciting. The first week without her, even the crew seemed less lively. It was hard to get back into the swing of things without the girl there. They no longer had her help, or had her asking questions. Silver could no longer keep an eye on her, he couldn’t protect her if something went wrong. He had many dreams about losing Brielle, waking up in the middle of the night, staring up at the ceiling, Morph chirping at him. 

Two weeks after she started, Silver received a letter when they were at port. It was from Brielle, describing her classes, all the people she was meeting, and how much she loved the school. Silver smiled, at least he knew they could stay in contact. He sent her back a letter, telling her how strange it was without her. The crew worked slower, and even Morph seemed to be less cheerful.

After the first month, Silver was back to his old self. He kicked the crew back into shape, losing every bit of softness he had acquired. It was almost as if he had become more ruthless, leaving less survivors than ever when they overtook a ship. He still sent letters to Brielle, but other than that, he tried not to think much about her.

The academy had the whole of the second month of the year off. While Silver would’ve loved to have Brielle back on the ship, they were on the other side of the galaxy, and wouldn’t be able to return until the end of the month. So Brielle spent the month with her grandmother, the now teenager helping her at the store. Silver did feel bad, and sent Brielle a set of Arturian diamond knives, which she promptly began to practice with. Brielle was becoming more lethal and intelligent every day.

Her second year of school, Brielle took sword fighting for her physical class. By the third month, her professor had her student teaching the class. Silver was proud of her after receiving a letter from her professor, requesting permission to take her on a fieldtrip to a military academy. Silver laughed, reading the letter, she was going to be at a military academy, and she was the daughter of a pirate. 

That same year, Silver had caught wind of something he hadn’t thought about in a long time - a treasure map.  _ The  _ treasure map. He wasted no time, getting every bit of information he could. There wasn’t much to go on, but once he got his information, he made sure no one else could. Hearing about the map had sparked a fire that hadn’t been lit in over a decade.

Her third year of school, things took a bad turn. She took a ship building class, thinking it would be easy, and fun. And it was, for about the first week. Then, a couple boys who thought they knew everything, wouldn’t listen to her. She let it go, and had the top score in the class. For their final, the professor had them build, nearly from scratch, a half sized ship. Brielle was the only one given her own task, building the secondary mast. The boys who thought they knew everything, were in charge of the main mast. 

After Brielle assembled her part, she walked around, trying to help some of the other groups. They all accepted her suggestions, except the boys, who had assembled their mast completely wrong. She tried her best to tell them it wasn’t going to work, but they ignored her, going so far as to physically push her away. If the professor hadn’t been watching them, Brielle was sure she would’ve at least countered with a sharp punch. Instead, she stood back and watched. When they had finished setting it up, it stood up for a moment, but started to lean. No one would’ve been in the way, but one student wasn’t paying attention, and was standing right in the way of the two ton mast.

The top broke away from the bottom, snapping about half way up. As the bottom began to fall, Brielle jumped into action. She ran and pushed the boy out of the way, and would’ve been clear herself, but a rope caught around her leg. Before she knew what happened, the mast came crashing down, hitting her in the right shoulder. She screamed, falling on her face, and watched the mast crush her arm. She didn’t feel any pain, her arm just went numb. She turned her head to the left, just in time to watch the other half crash down onto her left leg. That one, she felt. She screamed, and slipped unconscious.

Silver was thankfully at port, when he got the call. “We regret to inform you, there was an accident. You’re daughter, Artis, has been injured. She is currently in a stable condition at St. Marinat’s hospital,”. There was no hesitation, the quest for the map momentarily forgotten. Silver packed up the crew, and went to the hospital. Inside, they tried to explain to him what had happened, but he wouldn’t listen, demanding to see Brielle. 

She was unconscious, lying in an induced coma. Her right arm and left leg had been removed, there had been no way to save them. Silver looked down at his metal arm, knowing what she was going to have to go through. He finally listened to the doctors, they explained to him what happened (he made a mental note, if he ever met the boys or their families on his ship, he was going to cut off their right arms and left legs). He was given a chart about different cybernetics, and now knew what it must have been like to his parents, seeing their son in the same shape. Reading over the chart, he chose an arm similar to his, with many different basic attachments, where she could add more. For her leg, he chose one that resembled a real foot, not just a peg.

Brielle took the metal a lot better than Silver thought she would. She also healed a lot quicker than expected, and was back in school in a month, just in time for the last week. The boys that had caused that accident were all suspended until further notice, and she got an A on her shipbuilding final. And, she now matched her father, which she thought was the coolest thing.

She stayed with Silver for her month break after that. He helped her get used to the new arm and leg, teaching her how to calibrate it, and adjust it. She was still a little clumsy with it by then end of the month, but she wouldn’t let it slow her down.

A few weeks after she turned fifteen, Brielle received a letter. Her father was going to be working on a different ship. He had found the map he had spent years searching for, and nothing was going to come between him and the treasure. Sad that she wouldn’t see her father for a long time again, she took a ship to Ursa, spending another month with her grandmother. 

He had done it. Finally. It took him a decade and a half, but he found the map. Well, almost. He had tracked down an old Salamander, called Bones. Chasing him to the planet Montressor, he watched his ship crash near an inn. Seeing as it was the only shelter nearby, he and the crew tore the place to bits, after seeing the map missing and Bones lying dead on the floor.

Not giving up hope, after all he had gone through, he took the crew to the Spaceport. It was almost too easy finding the map again. He knew someone would either try to sell the map, or hire a crew, and the latter is what happened. Some Canid by the name of Doppler walked into the ship office, where Silver was waiting for this opportunity. From the way the Canid described the trip he needed a crew for, there was no doubt he had found the map. 

The man at the counter, who Silver had talked to earlier, waved him over. After being introduced to Dr. Doppler, he was given information about the trip, and signed on. They would be under the command of a different captain, but that didn’t matter. Silver left his ship on the port, and sent a letter to his father, asking him to send a crew to come pick it up, and hold it until he returned. 

The crew began to get the ship ready at dawn the next day, and he was sure nothing was going to get in his way.

* * *

Silver thought he was prepared for anything the trip was going to throw at him. He had his crew under control. He could deal with Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow. He could deal with Dr. Doppler. But when Arrow walked down with the doctor and a boy that looked to be Brielle’s age, he wanted to scream. There was no way he was going to be stuck babysitting. The kid, who he had learned was named Jim, didn’t seem too happy about it either. And then Jim made a mistake: he asked Silver about Bones. Sending Jim up to watch the launch, Silver gave Morph a cracker, telling him they had to keep an eye on the kid.

Of course, Scroop wanted to mess the plan up. Silver wanted to keep Jim busy, and had him washing the deck. He heard the crew get excited, and sighed. Walking up from the galley, he saw Scroop holding Jim up by the front of his shirt.  _ Great, now I have to protect this kid. _

“Mr. Scroop,” Silver starts, grabbing Scroop’s left arm with his metal one. “Do ya’ know what happens to a purp, when ya’ squeeze, _ real tight _ ?” he says, twisting Scroop’s arm, causing him to shout in pain, and drop Jim. He was just in time, as Mr. Arrow walked down from the upper deck. Arrow sent the crew back to their posts, leaving Silver and Jim alone.

“I gave ya’ a job!” Silver tells the boy, who scowled.

“I was! Then that spider thing-”

“Belay that! Morph, keep an eye on this pup, make sure he doesn’t get in t’anymore trouble,” Silver interrupts, then directs Morph. Returning to the galley, Silver sets a pot on the burner, and starts chopping up various vegetables.

An hour later, Silver heads back up to check on the boy. Tossing some scraps over the side, he’s almost impressed that the kid did what he was told. “Would ya’ look at that! Up here for an hour, and th’decks still in one piece,” Silver says to the kid, who looks up.

“I um, thanks,” Jim says, not looking directly at him.

“Hmph, didn’t your father ever teach ya’ how t’pick fights?” Silver asks, but Jim looks away. “He ain’t the teachin’ sort?” Silver presses, suddenly confused.

“No. More like, the taking off and never comin’ back sort,” Jim says, and leans over the edge, looking out into the Etherium.

“Oh. Hm. Sorry lad,” Silver says, standing next to him. 

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m doing just fine,” he shrugs. Silver thought for a moment about what to do with this kid. There was no way he was going to spend the two month journey having to save the kid from the crew everyday. 

“Is that so? Well, since th’captain put ya’ in my care, I’ll be usin’ th’time t’knock some sense int’ya head,” Silver says, and doesn’t let Jim argue. Returning to the galley, Silver starts to make plans on what to teach the kid. 

It hit him suddenly. One night, Silver had left Jim to wash all the dishes. There were at least a week and a half worth’s that needed to be cleaned, so he knew the kid would be busy for a long time. It was just about a month and a half into the journey, and Silver had been looking after Jim the whole time. The kid wasn’t that bad, just a moody teenager, and doing all the dishes seemed like a punishment. But, the dishes needed to be washed, and Jim was more than capable of it. It was well into the night, and Silver decided to check on Jim, to make sure that he had actually finished. When he got down to the galley, he looked down at the boy. Jim was sitting where Silver had last left him hours before, holding a large pot, sleeping. Angry at first, but after glancing around, he saw the kid had finished cleaning all the dishes. Silver smiled, looking over at Morph. He took his coat off, placing it over Jim’s shoulders. Turning to walk back up the stairs, Silver wasn’t expecting Jim to wake up.

“Thanks,” came from a voice cloaked in sleep. Silver half turned, smiling to the kid.

“No problem, Jimbo,” he says, and watched Jim be once again taken by sleep.

Returning to the deck, Silver leans over the side, Morph swimming around his head. He rests his elbows on the railing, and holds his head in his hands. While he wouldn’t admit it, even to himself, he cared about the kid. He did his best to reason that Jim reminded him of Brielle. They were the same age, and had similar personalities, both being headstrong and much smarter than they first appeared. Deciding that must be it, Silver left the railing.

A few days later, there was a beautiful comet racing not too far from the ship. It seemed like a good time to show Jim how to drive a long boat. It didn’t take much teaching. Jim took the controls, and Silver was nearly tossed out of the boat. They flew through the comet’s trail, the cold dust covering them as Jim weaved in and out of it. Tapping Jim’s shoulder, and pointing back to the ship, Jim understood. They headed back to the ship, shaking the dust off. Silver watched Jim’s face glow, so happy to have had the small freedom he did.

After trying up the boat, Silver noticed a bolt on his leg had become a bit loose. Sitting down, and being helped by Morph, he tightened it, noticing Jim looking confused.

“How’d that happen anyway?” Jim asks, the smallest bit of concern in his voice. Silver looked at his hand, watching the metal move.

“You give up a few things, chasing a dream,” Silver replies. He thinks back to  _ his _ kids, and how much he had loved them. 

“Was it worth it?” 

Looking across at Jim, he smiled. “I’m hopin’ it is Jimbo,” Silver replies, thinking of Brielle. He moves to sit beside Jim, leaning back over the side of the boat. “I’m hopin’ it is,” he closes his eyes, and feels Jim lean against his arm. Morph had nuzzled himself into Jim’s shoulder, and the moment was quiet and peaceful. Silver’s thoughts drifted away, to Brielle, and he wondered what she was doing then. He wondered how she and Jim would get along. 

Silver was suddenly thrust out of his thoughts as the ship leaned far to its side, and a bright light shown from outside. He rushes up to the deck, Jim at his heels. “What in the blue blazes?” he exclaims. He hears Dr. Doppler yell something about the star they were passing going supernova. That was not a good thing. Hearing Captain Amelia order the sails be secured, Jim and Silver climb up to one. 

It was not an easy task, as the ship lurched side to side from the force of the exploding star. Finally up to a sail, Silver began rolling it up, as Jim went to secure one at the end. Working quickly, Silver didn’t notice the big chunk of rock heading towards him, proceeded to hit near him, throwing him from the ship. 

“Silver!” he hears Jim yell, and then feels his life line being pulled taut. 

“Thanks lad,” Silver says after being pulled to relative safety. The moment of respite is short, though, as a massive rock heads straight for the ship. There was no way to avoid it, and he and Jim just watched, waiting for the impact.

The impact never came. Instead, the rock began moving backwards. The star had gone straight from supernova, to devolve into a black hole. Returning to the deck, the crew was in a panic, not sure what to do. The Captain seemed to have a plan, as she yelled to release the sails they had just secured. Before Jim could make it up to the sail, Amelia yells for him to check the life lines. “Aye Captain!” he yells, and runs off, while Silver continues up. 

Sails released, the crew all return to the deck. Another wave hits, and Silver could’ve sworn he heard someone yell, but there was no time to worry who it was. The ship was falling into the black hole, and Silver puts a protective arm around Jim, holding him to the main mast. 

Everything falls silent. Everything is dark. Silver only knew they were alive because he could hear Jim’s breathing quickly from fear. Then suddenly, there’s a blast of light. The wave hits them, and suddenly they’re flying out and away from the black hole. Silver pushes away from the mast, and Jim smiles up at him.

“I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver. Your cabin boy did a bang-up job with those lifelines,” Amelia says, walking down to the deck. Jim’s smile could’ve lit up the black hole, and Silver too, smiled, proud of the boy. “Crew’s been accounted for, Mr. Arrow?” Amelia says, looking around. “Mr. Arrow?” she calls again, a look of worry passing over her face. The yell Silver heard earlier suddenly flashed through his mind. And his fears seemed to be real, as Scroop walks up.

“Mr. Arrow has been losst. His lifeline, wass not ssecure,” the spider hisses, and offeres Silver’s hat to the captain. She looks at Jim, sad and disappointed. 

“What? No! I checked them!” Jim yells, running over to where the lifelines were tied. “I-I checked them. They were secure,” he says, disheartened, seeing one rope was missing. He runs off, and Silver misses what Amelia says about Arrow. He does, however, catch the malicious grin Scroop throws at him. Returning an angry glance, the crew disbands from the deck.

After giving Jim a few moments alone, Silver walks over to him, where he was sitting in the shrouds. “Wasn’t your fault, y’know,” he starts. Jim doesn’t seem to be moved by the words, so he continues. “Why, t’whole crew would be out there, floating in that dark abyss if weren’t for you,” that got a reaction out of Jim.

“Don’t you get it?! I thought, I thought just for a second, I could do something right!” he yells angrily, jumping down from the shrouds. His hands in fists, he looks at Silver, then turns away, dropping his hands, his shoulders drooping. The poor kid thought losing Arrow was his fault. The boy who just wanted someone to be proud of him. Silver makes a mental note to strangle Scroop later, and reaches his hand out, turning Jim around.

“Now you listen to me, James Hawkins. You’ve got th’makings of greatness in ya’! But you’ve got to take the helm, and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes and ya’ get th’chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you’re made of...well, I hope I’m there, catching some of the light comin’ off of ya’ that day,” he lets the words hang in the air, looking out into the Etherium. Looking back down at Jim, he sees tears form in the boy's eyes. Jim’s emotions gets the better of him, and he drops his head onto Silver’s belly. Shocked momentarily, Silver pulls the boy into a hug. “It’s ok, Jimbo, it’s ok,” he says, holding the boy. “Ya’ best be gettin’ t’bed,” Silver says softly after a moment. 

“Thanks,” Jim smiles up at him. He walks to the stairs to the crew quarters, turning once more to give Silver another smile. Silver returns it, waving him off. As soon as Jim is out of sight, Silver sighs.

“Gettin’ in too deep here, Morphy,” he says to the pink blob. “If we’re not careful, they’re gonna think I really have gone soft,” he continues, to which Morph lets out a chirp, and nuzzles into Silver’s neck. He lets out a small laugh, and starts his watch of the ship, oblivious to the spider watching him from above.  
  
  


* * *

Brielle was leaving school when she heard what had happened. She was standing in a cafe with her friends, laughing about school, when she heard the name Silver coming from the news screen. Turning slightly, she focused in on it.

“...after spending three months on a trip to find the mythical Treasure Planet, Captain Amelia Smollet’s crew threw a mutiny. Lead by notorious pirate captain John Silver, the three remaining crew members managed to escape. While the planet does indeed exist...” The broadcaster droned on. 

Brielle gasped, her mind blank.  _ Da what the hell did you do. You told me, you said it was just a different ship!  _ The few years and a class in galactic law had changed her mind on pirates. While at heart she would always be one, she had decided on becoming a mechanic. She had dreams to own a shop, and maybe convince her father of retiring in a few years, and he could live with her. 

“...three pirates were captured after the mutiny. Silver himself had escaped before coming into Montressor airspace. All others were killed on planet...” 

That broke Brielle out of her mind. Her father was alive. The rest of the crew, though. Except for Scroop, they had all been family to her. 

“Bri, you alright?” One of her friends taps her on the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah m’alright. Just, um, listenin’ to the news.”

“Oh yeah, damn pirates, the poor crew.” 

“Yeah...I gotta go. I’ll see you guys in class tomorrow.”

Brielle had hurried out of the cafe, and broke into a sprint once her friends wouldn’t see her. The academy took up a large area of the small planet it was on. On one side was a town, with the cafe sitting on the border. On the opposite side, was a forest, with trees reaching so high you couldn’t see the tops, and rivers and streams running through it. This is where Brielle headed. She kept running through until she ran into a river. The water lazily flowed along. Rolling her left pant leg up to the knee, her metal leg produced a knife. Holding the knife in her left hand, she climbed the nearest tree, using the knife and grip of her metal arm. She sat in that tree, watching the sky twist and glow as sunset approached. 

It was well into the night when she got back to her room. Since it was her last year, she had it to herself. She hesitantly grabbed the phone next to the door. Trying to calculate what time it was where her grandmother lived. Assuming it was a good time to call, she dialed the number. 

It was a few weeks later, when Brielle got a letter. It was short, and hastily written, but she recognized it as her father’s handwriting immediately. He assumed she had heard about what had happened, and told her that he was fine, and would send her a letter with better explanation as soon as he was safe. Brielle read the letter over and over again. Her father was the most important person in her life, and she had been a wreck until she got the letter. She tucked the letter into her coat pocket, and went to raise her grades that had fallen in those weeks.

The next letter came just days before she graduated, months after the first letter. Her father was safe, but couldn’t come anywhere the navy could spot him, for awhile. He went partially into depth about his adventure (conveniently skipping giving Morph to Jim), and told her he was proud of her, staying in school. He also sent along some money, so that she could make her own decision of where to go after she left the school. 

Brielle was upset, but she had grown a lot in the years at the academy. She made the decision to go to Montressor. For one, she wanted to go to the spaceport and see what info they had on her father. Maybe she could figure some way to get the navy off of him, or at least find the truth to what had happened. And since it was a mining planet, she could probably find a mechanic that would hire her. Save up money, open her own shop, convince her father to stop pirating and come live with her, she had simple, yet impossible dreams.

Getting to Montressor was no problem, the spaceport constantly had traffic. Getting the files on her father, was a little difficult, but she got them. It took her a day and three cups of tea to read through all of them, because they branched off into the crew too. There were two mentions of her, too, one as a child, whose family was slaughtered, and the other as Silver’s daughter. It made her laugh, that no one had connected the two. After finishing reading the files, she knew there was nothing she could do. Even if she could find some loophole through the Treasure Planet thing, there would be another in its place. 

She got on a transport to the planet, well into the night. Wandering for awhile, she walked down dark streets, planning just to sleep on a bench she saw. It was a skill she found very useful, being able to sleep nearly anywhere. Years on a pirate ship made it develop quickly. Curling up over her one bag, she fell asleep. 

Morning came, with someone angrily yelling at her to move off the bench. Scowling at him, she picked up her bag, and walked back down the street, now in the light. It was a small town, on the outskirts of a slightly larger city. She stopped in a cafe, buying something quick, that she ate as she looked for a mechanic shop.

There were five she found, and none would have her. It was always “you need experience” or “we don’t need someone like you”. She felt her anger flare up after each rejection, until she was just wandering worriedly. It had made perfect sense to her, leaving school and being able to work immediately. They didn’t even let her show them what she could do, which is something she didn't expect. Silver had once let her go to work on a different ship for a month or so, all she had to do was prove to the captain she was capable of whatever was thrown at her. But working honestly was so much harder.  _ No wonder pirates never change. That life is so much easier, no “experience”. As long as you work hard…  _ Her thoughts are cut off by seeing someone she recognized.

“Dr. Doppler? Doctor!” Brielle yelled across the slightly busy street. She recognized the Canid from a talk he gave at the academy.

“Wha..? Oh, hello!” Doppler nods to her.

“I’m Artis O’Connor. I- um, you spoke at my school a few months ago?” she walks up to him.

“Oh yes! Was it the one about black holes?” he sticks out his hand, and Brielle shakes it, nodding her head.

“Yes! I really enjoyed it. Did you really escape a black hole?” she asks. They talked for a few minutes, about black holes, stars, ways to make space flight more efficient.

“So what are you doing here? Not that this planet isn’t...no, it isn’t that great,” Doppler asks, as they get on a street car.

“I came hoping to work as a mechanic, but no luck. So now I needed to find a way to contact my grandmother.”

“Ah, so you’re going to be leaving? I enjoyed talking physics with you. My wife and kids...they are always bored of it. And they don’t even ACT interested anymore.”

“Ha, I would love to talk physics with you, doctor. But I’ve got no money and nowhere to stay.”

“Hm...is your heart set on being a mechanic, or would you be fine working somewhere else?”

“Right now? As long as I have a bed and food I would gladly go into those mines this planet’s known for.”

“Well, as fate would have it, a friend of mine needs a waitress at her inn. Room included.”

“Really? That would be great! I waitressed at my grandmother’s cafe a few times,” Brielle smiles, maybe this trip would turn out well.

“Of course, Sarah will love to have you. Oh, this is our stop then!” Doppler says, giving Brielle a nudge out the door. “See the building at the top of this hill? That’s the Benbow. Brand new, and always full.”

“I can’t wait.”

They walked into the inn, and like Doppler had said, it was full. Sarah Hawkins was running back and forth, happy to be working, but hoping for the slightest break. 

“Sarah! When you have a minute!” Doppler shouts, hanging his coat on a rack beside the door.

“Delbert, I don’t have time to listen to science blabber right now!” She yells back, not even glancing in his direction.

“Sorry about that, she is very busy since her son is at the naval academy,” Doppler says to Brielle, who is watching Sarah’s movements.

“Can you hold this?” Brielle drops her bag and coat into Doppler’s arms. She steps quickly to the kitchen, washes her hands, pauses a moment to glance at the robot cooking, and throws on an apron. She grabs the tray of food, passing Sarah as they go through the door. “Artis O’Connor, seventeen, other questions ask Dr. Doppler,” Brielle says quickly, and passes food out quickly. She had memorized the table numbers quickly, and each plate on the tray had the number next to it. 

“Delbert, who is that?”

“I uh, found her this afternoon. She said she needed a job and room, so I brought her here. Did not expect her to jump in like that.”

“You’re in charge of hiring from now on,” Sarah says, now watching Brielle run orders back and forth.

“So this will be your room, had I known you were coming I would’ve made the bed for you,” Sarah says, letting Brielle into the room.

“It’s no problem ma’am, thank you so much!” Brielle replies. She makes the bed, and falls asleep happily. Making a note to call her grandmother the next day.  
  
  


* * *

The last thing Brielle expected from meeting Ms, Sarah’s son was a familiar pink blob, who was excited to see her.

“Oh! That’s Morph!” Jim says, grabbing it out of the air. “I have no idea what he is, but he’s kept me company at school,” he laughs, releasing the orb, who nuzzles up to Brielle.

“He sure is cute,” Brielle says, trying to keep the ice out her voice. “Where did you get him?”

“Oh um,” Jim didn’t want to tell the girl he had gotten Morph from a pirate. “This old sailor I met a year or so ago. He thought Morph would like being with me.”

“Wow, thats amazing. I’ve never seen anything like him before!” Brielle says, thinking about the planet full of morphs.

Brielle had been working at the inn for a few months, and had never once thought they were in anyway connected with her father. Even meeting Amelia Doppler hadn’t given her a hint, because she knew the captain as Smollet. When Sarah had said her son was coming home from the academy, Brielle was excited, someone her age she could talk to. She was starved of peer interaction, outside of the people she served at the inn. And the Doppler kids were only two (or about five in human years), so they weren’t much fun. But seeing Morph, she almost wanted to kill Jim. First, because she thought Morph had been stolen, but now she was envious. Her father gave this boy he had known only a few months, the pink blob. 

Brielle did her best to get over it. Her father finally had a ship, and no longer needed to be as careful as he had been. She had sent the inn’s address to her grandmother, who would send it to her father as soon as she could. As soon as Brielle got a letter to him, her anger would be squished down into the very paper it was written on. But for now, she will just suffer.

“I dare you to jump off the roof,” Jim says, laughing. He and Brielle had grown close over the few weeks he had been back. It was a nice change, being home, goofing off. He loved the naval academy, but had never been one for following strict orders. Brielle was the exact opposite, she would do what you asked, but only her way. And because of this, dangerous and reckless dares were how they interacted.

“If I break my leg, you’re paying for it!” Brielle says to him, walking to the edge of the roof. They knew her arm was metal, but no one knew her leg was. Perfect for a prank. She took a deep breath, the warm summer air filled her lungs. They came up to the roof a lot, it was a good place to talk, in the fresh air. She had stopped worrying about the Morph thing, until she could ask her father. “Here I go!” She jumped, detaching her leg in the process. She dropped to the ground, and laid on her back, throwing her left leg a few feet from her. She lets out a blood curdling scream, almost laughing when she stops. 

“ARTIS!” Jim yells. He rushes to the edge of the roof, seeing Brielle staring up at him and her leg lying far away. “Oh my god! Are you ok?” he rushes down, taking a safer way than jumping.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Brielle snickers. She moves her skirt to show the metal where the rest of her leg attaches.

“I hate you, you know that? I was actually worried!” Jim says, picking up her leg and handing it back. “I didn’t know they could detach, or that your leg was metal too.”

“Most can’t, I upgraded this one myself. And I hate you too.”

They went inside the inn, Jim already forgiving Brielle. Most customers had already left, and the last few were getting up to leave. Apparently no one had heard Brielle’s scream, or no one had cared enough to actually check if everything was alright. The two of them clean the tables, while Sarah talked with Amelia.

“Oh, Artis, you got a letter,” Sarah says, handing it to her. Brielle takes it, and opens it without hesitation. It was her father, of course, and she reads it quickly. He had sent some money, and she should expect and actual package soon. And, he sent and address that she could reply to. The pirate was not going to be ready for the rage of a seventeen year old girl.

“Who’s i’fro?” Jim tries to ask, stuffing his mouth with a purp. Brielle looks at him with narrowed eyes.

“Who’s it from? M’da,” she replies, reading through it again.

“Oh. You haven’t talked about your family much,” Jim says clearly, wiping his mouth. 

“You never asked.”

“When I was little, my family’s ship was attacked by pirates,” Brielle starts out. She and Jim were back on the roof, the Eterium glowing above them since night had fallen. “It had just been the four of us, me, mother, father, and my brother. I was already in bed, so the pirates missed me, but killed everyone else,” Brielle paused, watching Jim look at her in horror. “I didn’t know what had happened, so I left my room, going to look for my parents and ask what the noise was. I turned a corner and saw them laying there. And then this pirate, the captain! Walks up to me,” pausing again, she gets ready to tell an altered story. No way was she letting anyone know she was a pirate, much less Silver’s daughter. “I guess he took pity on me? Or maybe was going to sell me into slavery? But he picked me up and brought me on his ship. A few days later, we met a trader ship, and he just dropped me off. My da was the captain of that ship,” she finishes.

“So it’s just you and your father then?”

“Well, his parents too. My grandmother watched me a lot when he was busy, and my grandfather was a sailor too, so I don’t see him much. So how about you? Is it just you and Ms. Sarah?”

“Yeah, mom and I have been alone for about five, almost six years now. Dad just left one day. Didn’t, didn’t even say goodbye,” Jim’s voice breaks. Brielle instantly reaches over to comfort him.

“Mom, why do we have to dress up?” Jim calls out, attempting to tie his tie. They were heading to the Doppler’s for dinner.

“Yeah mom, why we gotta dress up?” Brielle echoes, trying to tie the lace on the back of her dress. She and Jim were pushing each other out of in front of a mirror, stalling both their attempts at getting ready.

“Because Delbert invited us, and there’s going to be some important people there. And when did you start calling me ‘mom’?” Sarah comes into the room, tying Brielle’s dress, who then tied Jim’s tie.

“Um, it’s quicker than Ms. Sarah or Mrs. Hawkins?” Brielle replies awkwardly. She hadn’t even realized she had said mom.

“Ok, it doesn’t bother me. But the two of you need to hurry up, ten minutes,” Sarah says, then hurries out of the room, needing to finish getting ready herself.

“Ha, you should tell your dad to marry my mom,” Jim laughs, adjusting his shirt. 

“Ha, no way. My dad would love you, and would like Ms. Sarah, but I don’t think she would like him. Also, gross,” Brielle says, while fixing her hair.

They both look in the mirror. Jim had on a white dress shirt, black pants and shoes, and an electric blue bowtie . Brielle had on a black dress, with red trim, just as vibrant as Jim’s tie. 

  
  


“JIM, ARTIS, NOW!” Sarah yells, and the two of them rush down.

Jim was back at the academy after two months. Brielle now understood how her father had grown attached to the boy. He was basically her other half. She still wrote him an angry letter, but it ended with her acceptance of his decision. She had almost forgotten her plans to be a mechanic until she was writing. Maybe she would look into that again, now that Jim was away.

Brielle still had no luck with mechanics. Which was fine, she could almost work at the inn the rest of her life, but she ached to be on a ship. The more regular contact with her father was a highlight of her life now, as she didn’t do much beside work. But it was only four months until Jim was back, so she had that to look forward to.

“We don’t have to dress up this time, right?” Brielle asks.

“No, this time we’re just going over for a visit. Nothing special,” Sarah replies. “Go get Jim, would you?”

“Let’s play pirates!” four little voices shouted in unison as soon as Brielle and Jim walked through the door. The Doppler kids: Amy, Becca, Clara, and Delbert Jr. who they called DJ. 

“Ok! Who’s captain this time? No, Amy you were captain last time. Ok, DJ you’re captain,” Brielle starts the game without hesitation.

“Y’know, with your experience with pirates, I thought you wouldn’t like them,” Jim says, moving furniture to be their ship.

“Not all pirates are bad, and I didn’t have that bad of an experience,” Brielle says, tying bandanas around the kid’s heads. “Captain DJ, what is your first order as captain?”

“Um, let’s go take over that ship!” the boy yells, and his sisters rush to jump on the chair he pointed to.

“But your parents,” Jim starts, and Brielle looks him in the eyes

“My birth parents were abusive and ignored me” she whispers. Her eyes are like steel, looking into Jim’s blue. “The first thing I said to the pirate,” she dropped her voice lower so the kids wouldn’t hear, “who killed them, was ‘I didn’t want you to kill them!’ I had been praying to be saved, and I thought that’s what the pirates had come to do.”

“Woah, I, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to-”

“It’s ok. I had a nightmare about it the other day. I’m still a little upset about it”

“Artis, I’m sorry.”

“Actually, stop calling me Artis. I prefer my middle name, Brielle. Or Bri, doesn’t matter,” 

“Alright, Br-”

“Bribri! That’s a good name!” Clara says, now listening to their conversation. “Now, come play pirates!”

Later that night, Jim and Brielle joined Sarah and the Dopplers in a different room. The kids were tired, laying in their “ship” watching a book. 

“Oh Jim can tell you all about that,” Amelia was saying to Sarah as the two walked in. 

“Tell her what?” Jim and Brielle sit down on a couch, Brielle grabbing a physics book that was lying on the table.

“About that blasted pirate Silver. We didn’t tell you mother much about that trip, did we?” Amelia responds, sipping her tea. Brielle looked up from the book she had. Her grip tightened around it. She heard the gears in her arm hum louder.

“Oh, but what about him?” Jim asks, oblivious to the rage building in the girl beside him.

“The way he tricked you into trusting him, and then, even after betraying your trust, you let him go free.” Brielle’s grip tightened again. She liked Amelia, she really did. But saying things like this, about her father, lord help the feline.

“Wait, it was you that let the pirate go? Who almost killed all three of you?” Sarah asks, shocked.

“Yeah, but he didn’t! And at one point, he could have had treasure or save my life, and he chose me. That has to count for something?” Jim replies awkwardly. He didn’t want to talk about this. Brielle calmed a bit from what Jim said, but a knife stored in her arm wanted to come out.

“But, he was a captain that planned a mutiny!”

“Ok, I never said he was a good man. But he did genuinely care, at least a little, about me. And there’s no way any of us would have survived, if he didn’t have a small bit of heart,” Jim can sense an argument forming. “Bri, you want to see if the kids want a story read?” he gets up, not waiting for her reply. Brielle immediately jumps up, following him back into the other room. Her left arm held on the joint in her right, so it wouldn’t display her knives.

“I’m not going to survive the trip with them,” Jim talks softly, as they pass through the room the kids were in, into the kitchen. They were all, except the kids, going on a science conference cruise around the galaxy in a few days. 

“Yeah, I like Ms. Amelia, but she sure likes to argue,” Brielle releases her arm, as it had stopped humming so loud. “Hopefully there’ll be ways for us to get away from them.”

“Yeah...Do you think we could get to the roof through the outside?”

“Probably, why?” There was no reply, Jim was already heading for the door.

They got onto the roof, with only a small struggle the first ten feet or so, it got easier after that. They sat down, leaning against a wall that went higher. It was cold, winter was just ending it’s full force on the planet.

“I miss him,” Jim’s voice is nearly drowned by the winter wind that picked up.

“I didn’t catch that, what?”

“I miss him. The pirate they were talking about, Silver. I miss him. I know it’s stupid, but he was almost a father? He cared about me, and tried to teach me, and actually cared,” Jim stood up now, “and they always write him off as the villain. Sure, he originally wanted the mutiny. But he didn’t want any of us to die. Mr. Arrow, Amelia’s first mate, was killed by this spider psycho, Scroop,” Brielle shudders, thinking about the spider, “I get...maybe he didn’t care about me,” Jim sits back down, burying his face in his hands. Brielle wraps her arms around him, doing her best at comforting the boy.

“I’m sure he does care,” she says, thinking of a letter her father sent,  _ “Don’t tell Jim, but I meant everything I said to him. He’s a brave lad.”  _

“I just, Amelia can’t bring that up,” Jim pushes his face into Brielle’s left shoulder. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“This is your room: 225,” an attendant tells Sarah. “Mr. and Mrs. Doppler are in 220, at the end of the hall and to the right. Anything I can help you with?” Sarah shakes her head no, and the attendant leaves with a curt nod.

Jim had to hold onto Brielle’s sleeve the whole time they walked, from boarding the ship to their room. Being a spacer at heart, the size of the ship made her anxious to at least explore all of it. Looting everyone that was on the ship would probably be frowned upon, and she didn’t feel up to evading security the entire time. The conference was going to be for two weeks, and they had almost the whole ship to explore, so at least they could avoid Amelia. Brielle and Jim had done their best avoiding her, because neither could stand her talk of Silver. 

“Do you know how many more people could fit if they replaced the rooms with basic bunks? And filling the whole atrium with supplies, you could house an army!” Brielle bounces excitedly down the hall, Jim juggling various food they had taken from the kitchen.

“Are you always this excited about ships? I mean, it is impressive, but not ideal for battle,” Jim says, and throws a loaf of bread at her.

“I grew up on a ship. It’s in my blood. And you would have smaller ships in your fleet, that would do the fighting,” Brielle defends her point, and the two of them step into the atrium. It was half the length of the ship, built for banquets and conferences. Right now the crew was setting out tables for the first night’s dinner.

“But what if the enemy breaks through? The glass here is strong but wouldn’t stop much,” they walk around the perimeter, looking out the glass windows that were three quarters of the room. 

“Increase the gravity radius, and hold back in case of necessary escape. Have shockwave producers on either side bottom and front, I dunno,” Brielle says, the two exiting the Atrium to the outside balcony.

“I guess that could work,” he gave up trying to argue. “What are you doing?” Brielle had swung one leg over the railing.

“I wanna check something out. Stay right there, gimme two minutes,” and she swung the other over, sliding down the side. Small magnets in her arm and leg kept her attached to the ship. About twenty feet down there was a platform, in case someone actually fell. She stood on it, and surveyed her surroundings. The engines were close enough that she could hear their roar, but it wasn’t unbearable. A small door was about halfway down the platform, but beside that their wasn’t anything too exciting. She climbs back up, to a Jim that nearly punched her.

“Why would you do that? You could have fallen off!” he yells, angered. The fist he made to punch her changed into a hug.

“I wanted to see what was down there. Just a platform, and emergency door. Nothing exciting. I would’ve been fine it I fell,” she returns the hug.

“Fine. But Mom would’ve killed you,” Jim laughs.

By the third day, the pair had explored the entire ship, Brielle no longer jumping over the sides. The best spot they had found was through a maintenance tunnel, the lead to the roof of the atrium. It was higher than the main deck, with a small strip of wood that they could walk on, so no one below could see them.

“Do you think the manta’s would be cool with someone riding them?” Brielle asks, motioning to the herd of animals floating past the ship.

“I dunno, why don’t you try?” Jim says, looking the other way. “DON’T ACTUALLY DO IT!” he yells, seeing her shift out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m not. Do you see that though?” she points to something in the distance.

“It looks like a ship,” he tries to focus on the dot. The two walked toward the end of the atrium, looking at the unidentified object. “Is it getting bigger? A couple ships? They look like they’re heading this way.”

“We have to tell someone, now.” Brielle grabs Jim’s arm, running to get down.

“Brielle what are you doing?”

“They had a black flag, we need to get down,” it was something she had worried in the back of her mind. She had looked at their intended flight path, going through at least two areas that were known pirate territories. Their weren’t frequent attacks in those areas, but a ship this big would definitely be a target. Brielle doesn’t even stop at the maintenance entrance. Releasing Jim’s arm, she leaps to the main deck, surprising a few people.

“Hey! How did you get up there?” A security guard grabs her arm.

“Please! We don’t have time. There’s pirates closing on us,” she says. If she wasn’t worried for her friends, the pirates wouldn’t have bothered her. But she had more than just herself to care about.

“Ha! Pirates? There’s no way a pirate ship can over take this one,” he laughs at her. Jim, having taken the tunnel, caught up to her.

“Fine, then let me go find someone who’ll listen!” she yells, pulling her arm out of the man’s grasp. She nods to Jim and the two try to run, but the guard grabs both of them again.

“Don’t go around bothering people, now let this go unless you want me to bring you both to the brig,” he says, dragging both of them to the door leading into the atrium. 

“But sir, you don’t-” Brielle’s arguing was no help, as they were shoved through the door. “Well, I’m not helping him if we’re attacked,” she spits, looking at Jim.

“Well, maybe we won’t be. You don’t know for sure-”

“I know what I saw, Jim. Maybe if we’re lucky...” she was going to say _ “maybe if we’re lucky I’ll know them”,  _ but she stopped herself. Instead, she walked back to their room, might as well be in fighting shape, should it come to that.

About an hour later, the ship lurched to it’s side. Brielle had been pouting, they had found more than one guard that had turned her away. So she and Jim had found Sarah and the Dopplers, so they would be close. Brielle had tied her hair up, with a bandana, changing into clothes she could fight in.

“I told you,” she whispered under her breathe. The five of them were in a lounge area, surrounded by a few others. At least three people screamed, and Sarah put her arms around Jim and Brielle without hesitation.

“What was that?” Sarah’s voice wavered a bit.

“What do you think?” Amelia says. She reached for the pistol on her side. Being a naval captain, she had one at her side at all times. “It should be no problem, seeing how much security they have on this ship, but just in case.”

“Do we really need that, dear?” Delbert taps his wife’s hand. The look she gave him answered yes.

“Bri and I tried to warn the security earlier, but no one would listen,” Jim goes to the door, cracking it to see if anyone was in the hall. He was immediately shoved out of the way by the others in the room, panicked by the idea of pirates.

“Good, now I just have to watch the four of you,” Brielle snapped. 

“Excuse me?” Amelia turns towards her.

“Nothing, ma’am.”

“Should we find someone that knows what’s going on?” Delbert asked, not quite sure. 

The group walked together down the hall. Aside from a few panicked people, there didn’t seem to be much going on. Thinking for a moment that the ship’s crew did have it under control, Brielle was proven right as the ship lurched again, and shots could be heard echoing down the hall.

“Do we just attract pirates?” Delbert sighs. Brielle laughs to herself, he had no idea. They all pressed up against the wall, trying to for a plan.

“Best idea is to make it to the escape ships,” Amelia takes charge.

“That’s on the other side of the ship,” Jim points out. “We’d have to make it past whoever’s attacking.”

“We could take the maintenance tunnels?” Brielle takes a step forward. “There’s a door that leads into them over the rails of the atrium. It’d be quicker, and harder for someone to find us,” she doesn’t stop to hear what anyone thought, heading towards the atrium. The sound of guns got louder behind them.

“Ok, we’ll follow you,” Amelia says. Brielle leads, with Amelia and Jim behind Sarah and Delbert.

The atrium was not a pretty sight. One wall was partially destroyed, glass covered the floor. Three pirate ships could be seen surrounding them. People were in a panic, but there didn’t seem to be any pirates currently in there. The five rushed out, Brielle shutting down any protests to help. “It will be hard enough for the four of us, if pirates find us. We can’t protect everyone.”

They all swung over the railing, Brielle helping them down safely. They pry open the door, and hurry through. A few minutes of walking and backtracking bring them close to the escape ships. And, right into the arms of the attacking pirates. Brielle swings her right arm out at one, changing it to a sword in the process. He jumps away, and she throws a knife in his general direction. Amelia shoots at two others, but more appear around the corner.

“Hey boys! We found more tryin’ t’escape!” one of them shouts. He smirks at Brielle, lunging for her. 

“You’ll have to try harder than that,” she growls, bringing her knee into his stomach. She couldn’t identify what he was, something reptilian. Her right arm, as a sword, slashes him across the chest, and he howls in pain. “Who’s next!” Brielle shouts, excited. She rushes at one trying to grab Amelia, ramming him into a wall. She glances back at Jim, who was guarding the door that Sarah and Delbert were still behind. She manages to take a sword from the insect-like pirate she had just rammed, tossing it to Jim. A smile was plastered on her face, she hadn’t fought like this in a few years. Amelia hits one in the arm, and he retreats.

The group would’ve had no trouble getting to a boat they could escape on, but one of the pirates managed to shoot Brielle in the side, and she falls to her knees momentarily.

“Brielle!” Jim had let his mother and Delbert out, just in time to see Brielle fall. She pushes herself up, but was down just long enough for a pirate to grab her, twisting her arm so she couldn’t use it anymore. That was the end of their escape, the pirates overtook them.

“Yer all quite th’fighters. Our captain would love to see you,” the one holding Brielle laughed. 

They were all walked down the hall, into a large room. The captain resembled a fox, his ears twitched as they entered the room. “Mr. Stone, why are these captives in here?” the captain asked. His voice was smooth, but his face showed he was bothered by the five of them.

“They was all fightin’ good, Captain Fang. ‘Specially this one, the cyborg,” the pirate holding Brielle pushed her forward, letting her fall. She held her left hand on her wound, and pushed herself up.

“Well, that just means you should’ve killed them. Do I have to do everything?” the captain raises his gun.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Brielle growled.

“Oh, and what makes you say that?” Fang snaps back. He lowers his gun slightly, intrigued.

“I swear on m’father’s name that I will slit your damn throat!” Brielle stepped forward, her voice full of anger. She was standing as tall as she could, with her wounded side.

“Ha! Speak the name then! Strike fear into my heart!” he says, dramatically placing a hand over his heart.

“I would never tell scum like you!” Brielle nearly shouted. She had watched her father yell, and strike fear. It wasn’t the same effect from a girl a third his size.

“Well, maybe this will convince you,” Fang nods to one of his crew. The pirate raised a gun to Sarah’s head. Without hesitation, Brielle grabbed a knife, and it flew through the air, straight through the man’s hand. He howled in pain, and Brielle smirked.

“Try that again, you bastard! I dare you! I will flay you all alive!” she was letting her emotions go, not bothering to keep herself in check.

“Spirited, aren’t you,” Fang said. While his crew had taken Brielle’s words to heart and backed off, nothing seemed to phase him. “Well, here’s this. We won’t hurt you, or your friends. But we’ll take you aboard, maybe you’ll tell us this name?” he seemed annoyed, if anything, by Brielle’s disruptions. “Or, you can try to escape. I won’t promise safe travels, however,” he says calmly. Brielle glances at her companions. There was no way she could protect all of them if they tried to run.

“We’ll come aboard,” she takes his offer. It was the safest decision at the moment. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


The small group was taken aboard Fang’s ship, locked into cells so escape would be discouraged. Brielle, separated from the others, burned the rest of her anger by punching the wall with her right hand. It didn’t move much under her metal hand, but a small mark was left. She leaned her head against the wall, unsure of what to do anymore.

“Brielle! Are you alright?” Sarah was the first to call to her. Brielle turns, looking at the four others across from her.

“Yeah, how about all of you? I’m sorry, for what happened.”

“That was excellent bluffing, and you’re very capable with that arm of yours,” Amelia says to her.

“I spent near half m’life on a ship, ma’am. You learn a thing or two,” Brielle responds, glad she was not questioned about it. The pirates didn’t bother them that night, so they all slept uncomfortably in the cells.

In the morning, a pirate came in with water and some unidentifiable slop for them. He smirked at Brielle, but she didn’t even look at him. The five didn’t talk much that day. Brielle was focused on trying to find them a way out. There was not much they could do from the position they were in.

That night, Jim watched the pirates take Brielle. She went without question, her chin up, not for a second showing weakness. Jim felt helpless, then. There was nothing he, or any of them could do. And he hated it. They were stuck at the mercy of pirates, and Jim wasn’t sure they’d be as lucky as last time.

Fang wanted to know who Brielle’s father was. He brought her up into his cabin, and for a while, tried talking it out of her. She refused to tell him, not knowing what he would do to her friends. After sometime of her keeping her mouth shut, Fang turned to violence. He had one of his crew hold her still, and he would hit her. Brielle stayed strong through this, even though she could feel herself breaking down.

A few hours later, the pirates returned her to her cell.

“Brielle! What did th-” Jim starts.

“I know how we’re getting out,” Brielle cuts him off, dabbing her cheek with her sleeve. “Jim, I need you to be ready for anything, alright?”

“Um, sure. What’s the plan?” 

“We’re headed for Sanctuary. It’s a hidden city, populated by pirates and traders, and other sorts. They plan to sell us off, assuming that I was lying. We’ll be near enough tomorrow that I can get us there on a long boat, and it’ll make for a better escape this way,” Brielle explains her plan, her tone soft so not to alert a pirate that might be listening. “The one with the keys should be here in the morning, I’ll distract him, Jim you need to get the keys. As soon as we’re free, you all follow me, make NO hesitations, you understand?.”

“Do you really think this will work?” Amelia questions.

“No, but it’s our best shot, and if we’re lucky, the captain will be busy.”

Brielle didn’t sleep much that night. The way Fang had treated her brought back some memories she rarely thought of. Like she had said, though, early into the morning the man with the keys came in. The others were awoken by his loud speech.

Jim watches him talk to Brielle, making some rather nasty comments to her face. Jim stood straight behind him, waiting for Brielle to give him an opening. She stepped to the edge of the cell, grabbing the bars with her hands. The pirate continues talking, but she snarled something in a language Jim didn’t understand. The pirate must have, however, as the blood drained from his face. Brielle took the chance, and punched the man through the cell. She used her right arm, and the metal in it left a mark on his face. He had stumbled back dazed, and Jim grabbed the keys through his cell. The cells were unlocked as the pirate came out of his daze. Brielle grabbed him by the collar, and threw him out the door as they ran out. The other pirates that were nearby jumped back at this. 

The five ran quickly down the ship, staying at Brielle’s heels. The other pirates were momentarily stalled, giving them enough time to run. She lead them down and to the boats they could escape on. Before they could get out, Fang met them, his smooth facade replaced by anger.

“Get back here! I know who you are!” he bellowed. He swung his sword out, Brielle raising her arm to meet it. 

“Then you know you made a mistake crossing me!” she boomed back, a frown on her face. “Jim! Get us out!” 

They were out as soon as she finished, sailing smoothly away from Fang. Brielle took control soon after, taking them straight into a cloud. 

“What did he mean, he knows who you are?” Jim asked, trying to rid the unease he felt. Something was off, he felt it. The way Brielle frightened the first pirate, the way Fang had turned to anger, it left him anxious.

“I may have told a few lies in my time,” she says, a serious look on her face. Her eyes were focused forward, navigating them through a cloud that didn’t appear to house anything.

“What kind of lies?” Amelia asked, suspicious. She didn’t like the way Brielle behaved with the pirates, this was more than just having lived on a ship.

“Those pirates? They do have a healthy fear of m’da’, and his da’,” she says in the same tone. There was no emotion in her. There wasn’t any talk after that, they let her be. 

A few minutes later, they broke through the cloud, above a sprawling, high walled city. Brielle took them down, letting them off, letting their vessel float away. She strutted to the gate, not glancing behind to check for them once. She once again spoke in a language no one understood, and flashed the necklace she always wore at the person she talked to. The gate opened, and the five walked through.

“The four of you find a table,” Brielle said, nodding towards a cafe. The gates had opened into a marketplace, full of people of all sorts. “I’ll get something for us to eat, don’t talk to  _ anyone _ ,” she stressed the last command, and left. Jim lead his mother and the Dopplers to an open table.

“I didn’t believe this place existed,” Amelia is the first to comment. “The navy has been searching for years, many thought it was a myth.”

They all look around, watching the ever shifting group of people. Brielle returned quickly, balancing five bowls of soup in her arms. “Jim? The booth over there has listings of docked ships and their captains. Would you grab one, please?” Brielle asks, some emotion returning to her. He gets up, and wanders over, trying not to stare at all the people he saw. Never before had he seen this many different varieties of people, many races he couldn’t recognize. He grabbed a list, sweeping his eyes down it as he walked back. He handed it back to Brielle, just before he had reached the letter ‘S’. “Hopefully someone I know is here, and would be willing to take us back,” she says, skimming through it quickly.

“Can I see that again when you’re done?” Jim asks, stirring his soup. If he had the chance, he wanted to see Silver, to at least thank him for helping him out of a bad time. Brielle glanced up at him, her grey eyes worried.

“Even if he’s here, we shouldn’t see him, Jim,” she sighed. While she wanted to see her father, she would rather get them safe, and would prefer to keep her true identity hidden. Not only that, but she could feel her composure already failing.

“I’m with her, Jim,” Delbert talks for the first time. 

“Why not? I’m sure if-”

“Jim, let. It. Go,” Brielle demands. “The only reason we’ll go to him is if I can’t find anyone.”

They all ate the soup Brielle had brought, watching the night begin to lighten as dawn approached the city. The city never settled, always a lively hum about it. Brielle had read through the listing two or three times, writing check marks near names, then crossing them out on the next pass.

“Shouldn’t we be worried about Fang? He seemed ready to kill us,” Delbert speaks up again. He was the only one who still seemed frightened, even Sarah just seemed too tired to care.

“He’ll assume we’ll be looking for m’da, and want to stay back, think of the best way to confront us,” Brielle replies, scratching out another check. “None of these damn captains,” she muttered to herself, refusing to stall from her list.

“Have you found anyone yet?” Sarah asks. At that, Brielle stood up, slamming her hands on the table.

“You know what, there might be,” her voice sounded tired, her energy had long run out. “Jim, check what dock John Silver is at,” she throws the listing at him, knowing that her father was there, the fourth time she passed over his name.

“Are you certain that’s a good idea? He may like Jim, but who knows how far his hospitality will go,” Amelia stands up, looking down at Brielle.

“Ms. Amelia, I know you don’t like this. Neither do I, and I’ve grown up among these people. But with your husband and Ms. Sarah, safety is more important. If it was only me, with maybe you and Jim, we’d have no problem. But getting five people on a ship, will not go over well,” Brielle sighed. She was trying her best to stay calm. 

“Here, it says 618,” Jim said quietly. 

Brielle lead them to the dock, her arm linked with Sarah’s. They found the dock, and Brielle took a deep breath. It was the ship she remembered, but she didn’t know what to expect from the crew. She knew a few that were left behind on the trip would be aboard, but the new ones she was wary of. Taking a deep breath, she tugged Jim in front, pushing him to walk up to the ship. The gangplank leading up to the deck creaked as they ascended, and the crew was on the five of them at once. 

“Um, Jim, you might want to say something?” Delbert says, taking a step back.

“Oh, um,” Jim didn’t know what to say. “We came to talk to captain Silver?” he says, unsure of himself. He glanced at Brielle. Her face gave him no help.

“Oh, and who might you be?” one of the crew Brielle didn’t know asked.

“Jim Hawkins, I uh, know Silver,” his voice trembled at first, but he straightened up, and held his head high.

“We don’t know no  _ Jim Hawkins, _ ” another one hissed. The crew tightened the circle around the group, raising their swords.

“Well, Jim, this is going about as well as I thought it would,” Brielle sighed. She dropped her arm from Sarah’s, and stepped forward. “Where’s captain Silver, and when will he be back?” she echoed Jim.

“Why should we tell you, you’re the same as this boy,” the same woman hissed.

“Because I am too tired to deal with any of this. So please, give me an answer.”

“Hmph. He’s out gettin’ supplies and such, minglin’ with the floozies,” one says and the pirates all laughed.

“Great, that’s something I want to know,” Brielle sighs, holding her hand to her forehead. “This is going nowhere,” she says, and her arm became a sword. “All of you! Listen up! If you don’t know who I am, that’s fine. If you do know, then why the hell aren’t ya speaking up?” she fumed, swinging her arm at the crew in front of her. The pirates all jump back, knowing full well who she must be after that display.

“Sorry, ma’am! Won’t happen again. Give them space!” someone that Brielle recognized spoke up.

“Thank you. Now, tell me, when will the captain be returning?” she crosses her arms.

“He ain’t been gone for more than a quarter past, ma’am. Perhaps an hour or so.”

“That’s fine, can someone brew some tea and bring it to the cabin? And when he gets here, tell him we’re aboard.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Brielle was known to be a kind and patient girl, when she was well rested, well fed, and not on the run from pirates. The Brielle sitting here now was someone Jim had never met, but something about her felt familiar. The way she ordered the pirates around like she owned the place, the way the pirate who had brought them tea had avoided eye contact, Jim knew he had seen this before. 

No one had said a word since they came aboard the ship, all sitting tired and slightly confused by the young woman in their company. Jim watched her pacing, the two different thuds her boots made on the floor capturing his sleep deprived attention. She sat down briefly at the desk in the cabin, but stood back up immediately to continue pacing.

“So uh, Bri, what is going on?” Jim ventures to ask after a moment. She looks at him, her eyes sad. 

“Well I uh, it’s just that,” she stumbles to get her words together, unsure of what to say. Her strength was failing her, and while normally she could think of a way out of the situation, right now she was lost. “I’m not really used to having to protect this many people, and now I’m realizing that it was a mistake to come here. We would’ve been better off on Fang’s ship.”

“Why do you say that?” Amelia speaks up. “Not that this would ever be my first choice, but you seem to have authority here,” her tone wasn’t angry, but somewhat accusatory.

“Well on Fang’s ship, we would’ve been sold off as slaves most likely, which means we would be at this port anyway. And while we would be separated, at that point I could’ve freed myself, and then bartered all of you into freedom, at which point Fang couldn’t harm us. But also he probably would’ve killed me before we got here because he probably would’ve realized who I was and at that point anyway and it would be easier to kill me than getting rid of the evidence of trying to sell me because then he would be dead, but so would all of you,” Brielle was running on fumes at this point, and had rambled everything in one breathe. She breathed deeply, trying to regain her posture. 

“Bri, who are you?” Jim steps up to put a hand on her shoulder. At the same time, Amelia, who was the least happy to be where they were, began poking at objects on the desk. 

“Oh no Ms. Amelia, wait!” Brielle pushes Jim aside and jumps forward, as Amelia touches a picture projector. The first picture was a young girl, smiling happily, the curls on her head tied up in a light blue bandana. It flashed to another one, the same girl, a little older now, sitting at one of the cannons on a ship next to crewmen. Another one, this time the girl with a sword striking a familiar cybernetic arm. And the last one, the girl much older, grinning, sitting on the shoulder of the cyborg, holding a letter out in front of her. 

The projection stopped, and nobody really wanted to move. Brielle could feel tears forming. She had thought about telling Jim at one point, but never like this. While she figured that there was no way her companions wouldn’t have found out eventually, she had hoped at least she would be in a better state to admit it. But, seeing those pictures, those happy memories that she’ll never get back, reveal her secret, she was lost. 

“Why didn’t you tell us Brielle, there’s no need to worry!” Sarah was the first to speak. She was the only one who had never met this SIlver, but from the differing opinions from the Dopplers and Jim, she wasn’t sure what to make of the man. But knowing that Brielle seemed to have been raised by him, and what a lovely young woman she was, there was no way this Silver could be the horrible pirate Amelia especially made him out to be.

“Oh, we should be the ones worried! Who knows what his pirate lead us to,” Amelia snarls at Brielle. 

“Oh yes, the girl weeping after trying to protect her family is a fierce pirate who doesn’t care about us at all,” Sarah glares at Amelia, and pulls Brielle into a hug. Jim steps up next to them, between them and the Doppler’s.

“C’mon ma’am, she obviously is here as a last resort, this was never supposed to happen!” Jim wasn’t sure how to feel. So Brielle was Silver’s daughter? Alright, that’s...not something he expected. While now the familiarity he felt from her was explained, there were a lot of questions bouncing around his mind. 

Amelia stood up to continue her argument, when the door burst open. Silver walked in, unchanged from the last time either Brielle or Jim had seen him. Brielle pushed away from Sarah, and ran up in front of her father. She takes a deep breath, then begins speaking in a language Jim had never heard

“ _ Da, m’sorry but I wasn’t sure what to do. We were captured by a Captain Fang, and I just- I did my best to keep them all safe, _ ” Brielle gestures towards her companions. Silver crosses his arms, listening intently to what she was saying. “ _ And when we got here I thought about asking someone else, but I was scared because there’s five of us no one I knew would take us on board, and Jim- _ ” Brielle continues, Jim perking up hearing his name between snarled words , “ _ was pushing to see you, and I knew I would have to explain why if we didn’t come here, and I, I-i just,  _ ” she sobs back tears. 

“ _ Lass, y’know I would kill for ya, _ ” Silver starts, pulling her into a hug. While under most circumstances he does his best not to show his softer side, seeing his daughter cry, especially after all this time, he couldn’t avoid it. “ _ It might be a bit ‘o trouble getting you all on your way, especially with that cap’n there, but you did fine,”  _ Silver pulls Brielle slightly tighter, then moves her over to one arm. “Jimbo m’boy! Long time no see! Cap’n, Doc, good t’see ya as well,” Silver’s jovial voice booms around the cabin. 

“That’s Jim’s mom, Sarah,” Brielle whispers to her father, voice muffled even more as she pressed her face into his long coat.

“Oh and Mrs. Hawkins, pleasure t’meet ya!” Silver continued with help from his daughter. “Now what's this m’girl here was telling me about those nasty pirates?” Silver laughs out those last words. After the life he had lived, very few things could tear his spirits down.

“So we’re just meant to start there, then? The fact that this woman who has been with us is a pirate herself, we’re just to ignore?” Ameila, of course, is the first to question their situation.

“What’s there t’say? This young lass is my daughter y’see, but she ain’t a pirate,” Silver adds emphasis to his words. “She hasn’t been aboard a proper pirate vessel in years, and if she wasn’t who she is, where d’ya think you would be now?” In response, Amelia turns her head away. 

“Fang is gonna come after us,” Brielle unburies herself from her father’s arm. “Unless we convince him t’back off, and that’s not gonna be easy,” she says, and her father nods.

“But Silver, can’t you just tell him it’s not worth it? It seemed to work for Bri,” Jim asks. So much had happened in a short period of time, and he was lost.

“Well, I’ve met this Fang a time or two, and it won’t be easy. Not sure how she got y’out, but I’m sure he ain’t happy ‘bout it. Which means he’ll be looking for some kinda payment for losin’ a bounty.”

“I may have hit a few of them,” Brielle tries to smile. The pain from her injuries was starting to return, now that she had time to calm down.

“I’ll see what I can do,” SIlver starts to head back towards the door. “Fer now, get some rest, I’ll get the crew t’bring ya some comforts. Brielle, m’dear,” he pauses and puts his jacket around her shoulders, “don’t let it get ya too down,” he finishes, and leaves the room.

Brielle sat, facing her companions. Her father’s coat wrapped around her, and all her strength gone as her injuries reminded her they were there. 

“So are you gonna explain this or…?” Jim questions. Brielle pulls the coat a bit tighter around her.

“So when I was young, I wished that someone would come and rescue me, or at least make my family nice to me. And maybe I wished a little too hard, because I was rescued by the only pirate in existence that would do anything to protect me. Even if in this version of a rescue, it means my family was dead,” Brielle’s voice was cold. If they wanted the truth, they were going to hear it. “So Mr. Silver took me on his ship, and I guess I learned to be a pirate, for seven years of my life. Then I went to a school, where an accident crushed my arm and leg. And then after I graduated I went to Montressor, and now I’m here. I-I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“So this is all coincidence? You just happened to find us, without knowing we all knew Silver?“

“Jim, the day I met you, and I saw you had Morph, I may have wanted to kill you. The last I had heard from my dad, he was safe, but I wouldn’t be able to see him for awhile.”

“Why didn’t you tell me! Bri, if you had said-,”

“Because I was angry! I thought about telling you eventually, but just going ‘hey y’know that pirate that may have led a mutiny on your ship that one time? Oh yeah he’s my father. All those other pirates? Yeah I grew up with most of them and they were basically my family, oh no don’t worry I know you didn’t  _ mean _ to kill some of them!’ I don’t think that would’ve come off very well!” Bri’s voice was tired, but rage comes off her like a fire. Bruises were starting to show on her face, and suddenly the rest of the group felt very small. Brielle had never been especially intimidating, but now it was hard to tell from the anger fuming off of her. “I didn’t-I never expected to meet any of you. I never wanted to,” she sighed and hid herself in the coat, her fire extinguished. 

Silence rested into the cabin. There wasn’t much anyone wanted to say now. Silver had come in for a moment with some of his crew and set up beds for them, but had left without saying a word. He still had a ship to run, and knew his daughter and her companions needed rest.

The adults had fallen asleep fairly quickly, which left Jim and Brielle sitting in silence, trying to communicate through a series of eye rolls and sighs. After a few moments of this, Brielle gets up, gesturing to Jim, and walks out of the cabin.

“So, is this to weird for you?” Brielle breaks the silence. 

“It might take another day, but I think I’ll get used to it.”

“I can try to make it worse then, but you’ll have to give me awhile because  _ everything _ hurts,” she smiles. The crew on the ship were fully aware of who she was, and nodded to her as they passed. Seeking some privacy, Brielle and Jim climb somewhat awkwardly up into the crows nest.

“So, what’s gonna happen now?”

“I dunno. Da still has to do whatever business he was taking care of, so I’m not sure when he’ll be back. Fang is probably trying to figure out the best way to confront us, so that’s something we might have to deal with.” Suddenly a smile spreads across her face, “So you still think it would be funny to ask m’da to marry your mum?” Brielle laughs, recalling talking about that a few months back. Jim looked at her in horror for a second, remembering that.

“Never. She would scare the pirate out of him, though.”

“I’ve never met a woman so calm after a day like today. I’m sure if given the chance, she would’ve mothered Fang and his crew into submission,” Brielle smiled, moving closer to Jim.

“So you really had no idea when you started working at the Benbow? Silver didn’t send you to find us?”

“Oh, no. That was all accidental. Fate just wanted me to meet you, it seems,” Brielle replied. “I didn’t know until I saw you with- Oh no! Poor Morph!” she exclaimed suddenly. “The poor little bugger is home all alone! Who knows when we’ll be back!” 

“Hey, I’m sure he’ll be fine. We were supposed to be gone for a few weeks anyway,” Jim reassures her. They thought it would be better to leave the strange creature at home, away from the scientists they were supposed to be around.

“I guess you’re right. Just, so much has happened,” Brielle leaned on Jim’s shoulder. 

The two kids fell asleep up there, leaning their heads on each other. Sarah was the first of the others to wake up, and was sitting on the stairs to the deck, watching the pirates wander back and forth around the ship. She had never minded pirates, and was actually fascinated by their culture. Many had thought it was Jim’s father, who had always been a sailor, that got him interested in them. But it was actually Sarah, who had grown up with stories from her grandfather. When Jim was young she would repeat the stories she had been told, and was the one that had bought him the children’s book about Flint. She could see her son’s feet hanging out from the crow’s nest, and had a feeling that he had fallen asleep up there, so she didn’t worry too much for him. 

Sarah was waiting for Silver to return, wanting to thank him for how he helped Jim. She had a vague idea of what had happened on their voyage to Treasure Planet, and wasn’t so sure the man was the best role model for her son. But he had helped Jim out of the depression the boy had slumped into, and that was good enough for her. The man had managed to raise Brielle, who was one of the most polite and well-mannered young woman she had met. That was something Sarah was always surprised about. Pirates were some of the most well-mannered people she had seen, when they were not committing whatever crime they chose. Before the Benbow, she had worked with her parents at another inn, at a heavily frequented port. She had met many sailors, and knew many to be pirates. The pirates were always the first to jump to her aid when one of the other rabble would start groping at her.

It wasn’t long before she saw the pirate walking back towards the ship, a few of his crew in tow with something or other. She stood up, adjusting her clothes slightly. She carried herself proudly up to the pirate, who nodded in acknowledgment of her, and sent his crew off with a wave of the hand. “Aye, Mrs. Hawkins?” he asked.

“Just, Sarah, if you please. I wanted to thank you, for helping us, and especially Jim. My son changed so much after that trip, for the better, I might add,” she says, pleasantly. 

“Ah, Jimbo is quite th’young man.”

“He spoke fondly of you, and despite what Amelia and Delbert have to say, I trust his judgement. And also, thank you for whatever you did that brought Brielle into our lives. That girl is a wonder.”

While Sarah and Silver talked, Amelia and Delbert woke up, both coming to join them. Brielle also woke up, and laid her head in Jim’s lap. The adults talked about how they were to get home, but Silver’s mentioning of Brielle staying with him lead to immediate backlash from Sarah.

“You cannot make that decision! Let her decide whether or not she returns with us!”

“She may be your child, but that doesn’t give you a right to make decisions for her,” Amelia adds. She wasn’t happy that the girl was Silver’s daughter, but with the initial shock worn off, she still liked Brielle. Silver looked at the two women that were about ready to rip him to shreds. Neither were particularly frightening, Silver towered over both of them. But the way they spoke without fear to him, left him slightly overwhelmed, and unsure of what to do. 

“If I asked her, would it make ya feel better?” he asked hesitantly. Both women nod, accepting that idea. “Brielle!” he shouts up to where they assumed she was. Sure enough, Brielle swung herself down a few moments later. Silver decided it would be better to take Brielle off the ship, and the two could talk alone, since he hadn’t talked with her since their arrival. Jim woke up in time to see them leaving, and hastily joined, wanting to see the city now that he had rested.

Silver kept his left arm tight on Brielle, knowing the girl would want to run off as soon as she had a chance. Jim walked on his right, sticking close and looking around curiously at everything that was passing by him. The three of them walked along past stores, Brielle occasionally bubbling up about something. If the circumstances of seeing his daughter were better, Silver would have enjoyed walking with the two kids.

The moment Silver tried to talk to Brielle, however, he had the sudden realization that she was a teenager, only seventeen. He had only spent time with Jim as a teen. Brielle had spent nearly all of those years in school, and the few times he had seen her, she didn’t act up. But there was so much that had happened to the girl in the past day alone, that it was hard for her to keep herself inline. Silver dropped his hand from the hold he had on his daughter, but she turned right around and hugged him. Caught off guard, he looked down at her. Jim repeated her action, so both kids were holding tight onto the man. Silver sighed, and wrapped his arms around both the children, glad that they were mostly out of the way, and not in view of everyone. 

“I know that you’re gonna want me to stay with you, Da. But I like living with Jim and his mum,” Brielle sobbed into her father’s stomach. “If I could visit, it would be fine. But I know- I know-” her voice cuts off into more sobs. Silver was not ready to deal with this. Jim came to the rescue of the inept father pirate, however, by whispering something to Brielle. She smacked her arm out at Jim, and started laughing, tears still streaming down her face.

“C’mon, Bri! It’s a great idea!” Jim laughs, jumping back. She jumps at him, and wrestles the boy to the ground. But she starts laughing too hard and rolls off of him.

“Not on your life, would that be a great idea,” Brielle responds, wiping her eyes. Silver decides he’d rather not know what Jim had said, and just shakes his head at the kids, and half to himself. Why did he have to care about either of these children? He watched Brielle help Jim up, then proceed to push him back down when he apparently repeated whatever was making her upset.

“What are ya fightin’ ‘bout?” Silver asks, now deciding he’d like to know. Both kids look at each other, then back to him.

“Nothing?” Brielle says, but looking at Jim she once again breaks down laughing. Giving up trying to understand them, he grabs the kids by their shoulders, picking them up onto their feet.

“Now Brielle, I do want ya t’come with me. But i’tis your decision,” Silver finally says what he needed to. Brielle looks at up at her father, opening and closing her mouth a few times, trying to find a response. Instead, she grabs his and Jim’s hands, and starts pulling them towards a store she suddenly decided was more important. It was full of strange animals from various worlds, and she sat down in front of one of the cages. Jim sat beside her, and the two watched the creature look back at them curiously. Silver sighs, knowing he would have to give Brielle time to have an answer. But he didn’t have time, he was supposed to be off by midday the next day, and he would like to get them all on a ship home before then.

Brielle stood up after a few minutes, saying she was hungry. Linking arms with Jim, the two walked out of the store, and Silver followed behind them, cursing his soft heart. They walked into a different shop, and Brielle bought a giant loaf of bread, paying for it with money Silver knows she stole from him somehow. With all Brielle had been through, she was holding up like nothing was wrong. While bruises covered her face, and she occasionally winced from moving her wounded side too much, it would be difficult to guess what she had been through.

They finally walked back to the ship, where one of the crew rushed down to meet them.

“Cap’n Silver, sir! Cap’n Fang is on board, looking for you and Ms. Brielle,” the man says.

“Has he tried anything?” Silver asks, all of them walking quicker to get on the ship.

“No sir, he just arrived.”

They rushed up, Silver standing protectively in front of his daughter. Fang stood there, with some of his own crew. Fang smirked at them, stepping closer to Silver.

“Ah, John Silver,” Fang’s smooth voice dripped venom, as he said the name.

“What d’ya want?” Silver snarled back, he knew Fang, and didn’t much care for the fox.

“Your daughter. You see, she attacked part of my crew,” he motions to the men that Brielle had hurt, “and stole one of my boats.”

“From what I heard, it was yer own fault, Fang. Brielle was jus’ protectin’ her friends, is all.”

“Well, that may be how you see it. But I deserve recompense, for what she did. I’m sure you’d rather make a payment, than let your  _ precious daughter  _ duel me,” Fangs smirks at this. Silver, knowing that Fang just wanted him to appear soft, grabs Brielle roughly by the shoulder, throwing her forward.

“She’ll duel ya,” Silver crosses his arms, glaring down at the other captain. He would rather not let Brielle do that, but couldn’t let anyone see his soft side. It tended not to end well for him.

“Oh,” Fang looks mildly surprised, but regains his composure quickly. “Well, it will be to the death, just so we’re clear,” he smirks. Both Brielle and her father had the same scowl, looking at him. 

“Fine by me,” Brielle sneers. On the outside she appeared ready to kill the man. On the inside, she was cursing everyone, and wanting to run and hide behind her father. She’d fought, and nearly killed people, but never before was there a guarantee that someone would die.

“To make it fair I’ll ask you to remove those knives from your arm.”

“Oh, so you’re scared I’m gonna win?” Brielle says, handing the knives off to her father. She takes her necklace off as well, and then glances at Jim, who looked terrified. “Don’t worry, Jim,” she smiles to her not-quite-brother, “I’ll be alright.”

In the few minutes that passed, a large group had formed, excited to watch the duel. People came aboard the ship, but Silver paid them no mind, just keeping a sharp eye on his daughter. The onlookers made a circle, where it would take place. Brielle had given Sarah a hug, and kept a smile on her face. If she was going to die, she was going to make sure her friends remembered her with a smile. She gave a final nod to her father, and turned to face Fang, who was pacing opposite of the circle from her. 

“Ready to die, you bastard?” Brielle swings her arm out, brandishing her sword. In response, the fox leaps forward, thrusting his own sword. The two dance back and forth for a moment, each easily evading the other’s attack. Brielle manages to get the first strike, slashing Fang’s side under his sword. He hopped back quickly assessing the damage, before leaping back at the girl. Again, they evaded each other’s attacks, but both grew tired from hopping about so quickly. Fang managed to slap Brielle across the face with the flat of his blade, and she stumbled back. He took that opportunity to kick her in the stomach, pushing her down onto her back. He stood over her, a devilish smile on his face. 

“Anything you’d like to say, brat?” he hissed, stepping on her right arm so she couldn’t move it. She looked up, her eyes steel and sharp, mouth frowning. Her eyes were focused on him, she didn’t say a word. “What? No begging?” he stepped forward, driving his sword deep into her side, below the ribs. Brielle gasped in pain, but a smile formed on her lips.

“I told you,” she panted, trying not to let the pain cloud her mind. “I told you it was a mistake crossing me!” she manages a yell, and grasps the knife she kept in her left leg. Fang had been leaning over her at the perfect height, and she slashed the knife over his exposed throat. He steps back, choking, holding his throat as blood poured out of it. Brielle grasps the sword still in her side, and stands up. “ _ YOU DON’T CROSS A SILVER! _ ” she thunders as Fang bleeds out on the deck. Darkness starts to claim the edge of her vision, as her own wound was bleeding, slower than her victim’s. She falls backward into her father’s arms, who rushed forward now that Fang was gone.

Jim held onto his friend’s hand, anxiously waiting for her to wake up. They were in a hospital within the city, and Brielle had been asleep since they had left the ship. The whole duel was vivid in Jim’s mind. He stood behind Silver, his heart beating rapidly, knowing his friend was going to be hurt. Amelia and Delbert were next to him, while Sarah was far away, not wishing to see the fight. He watched Brielle and Fang dance around each other, but as soon as Fang had caught her, he tried to rush forward to help. Silver had stuck his hand out, blocking the boy from rescuing his friend, so he could just watch helplessly. Watching the sword being driven through his friends side, Jim’s eyes widened in horror. He was amazed at Brielle’s determination, she never let the pain show on her face. Fang’s death was the most repeated scene in his mind. Brielle surprised them all, taking the extra knife from her leg. While her right arm was pinned and useless, her left arm had slashed the knife like she had done it a thousand times. Her last yell about crossing a Silver had taken the last of her energy, as she was also bleeding out. Silver was the first to her, catching her, and not spending a moment waiting, rushing her to the hospital. Sarah, of all people, was the one that kept everyone together. She sent Fang’s crew away, and all the other onlookers. She instructed Silver’s crew to clean up Fang’s body and blood, and then had someone lead them to the hospital, so they could be beside Brielle.

The doctors stopped the bleeding well enough, but she had lost a lot of blood. She would be fine, so long as her wound didn’t reopen. While just a few hours before, Silver had hugged both Brielle and Jim close, he was now ice, not even glancing at Jim. He had a scowl on his face, and didn’t talk. Jim and the others stayed back from him, not wanting to be within range, should his anger get the best of him. After a few hours, the doctors moved Brielle into her own room, and instructed everyone to be quiet around her, to let her rest. Silver had left and come back a few times, not sitting still for more than a few minutes. He left Brielle’s knives on the table beside her, and had cleaned the knife she killed Fang with. Silver would get up and pace, then leave as a crew member came to talk, then sit back down, and repeat the cycle. Jim watched him, feeling sorry for the pirate. But he was also angry, that Silver had let his daughter be hurt like that. He didn’t care that it would show he was soft, Brielle could have died, and there was still a possibility of it.

Sarah got up at one point, and returned with food for all of them. No one was exactly sure where she had got it from, but no one had energy to ask her. Silver was outside the room, talking in a hushed voice with one of his crew. After distributing food to those within, Sarah placed a soft hand on Silver shoulder, handing him the last plate. He looked slightly surprised, and finished talking to the man, sending him away. Most of the food went to waste for all of them. Jim didn’t even take a bite, just swirled the food around the plate. His mind went over and over what had happened that week, still not convinced any of it was real. They had been on a giant ship, for a dumb science convention he wasn’t that excited to be on. They got attacked by pirates. He found out that his closest friend was the daughter of a pirate. And not just any pirate, but Silver of all people. Then, for just a moment, Jim felt like he had a complete family, joking with Brielle. But it was all taken away, watching Brielle fall.

It was well into the night, when Brielle’s eyes opened, and Jim gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Her eyes were unfocused, but swept across the room, and then closed again. An hour or so later, they opened again, and this time she spoke. She called softly to her father, and the two talked in a language the others couldn’t understand. Brielle fell back unconscious soon after. As dawn approached, Silver talked with the doctors about his daughter, and then told the others he was leaving. He expected the backlash from them, wondering how he could leave his daughter as she laid half dead in the hospital. Jim’s argument was the most fierce. The boy followed the pirate out, all the way to his ship. Not once did he stop yelling that he couldn’t leave. He yelled about how it was going to hurt Brielle, not realizing that it was going to hurt him too. Silver turned to him when they got to the ship, and he saw tears streaming down Jim’s face. The boy had seen his own father leave without so much as a goodbye, and seeing Silver leave again had brought up that memory. 

Silver clasped a hand onto the boy’s shoulder. He apologized, but gave no explanation to his departure, aside from that he had to. He said goodbye to Jim, and the boy watched him leave. Jim’s walk back was slow, and he just gazed ahead, trying not to think too hard about it. Brielle woke up that night again, and this time stayed conscious. She didn’t say much, but a nurse brought in food, that she managed to eat. Not once did she ask about her father, but she did try to make sure everyone else was ok. After an hour or so, she fell back to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up, and Jim started to talk about Silver. “You know Silver left, right?” he assumed that’s what they had talked about the other night.

“Yeah. He left money for a ship home, and paid the hospital.”

“And you’re ok with this? He just left you, Brielle. He didn’t even try to help you, when you almost died! Are you sure he cares about you?”

“He had to, Jim. If he stayed, he might have lost control of his ship. Lots of pirates respect or fear him. But if he showed weakness he would lose that.”

“You’re his daughter though! Isn’t there some kind of exception?”

“Jim, these are pirates. They will cut someone’s throat, given the chance,” she paused, remembering what she had done. “And you need to understand, he wasn’t always a pirate, so there’s already a fault on him.”

“He wasn’t always a pirate?” that caught Jim off guard. He didn’t know all that much about Silver, or pirates in general, he just assumed they were born into piracy. “What do you mean?”

“You know that crazy adventure you all went on? To Treasure Planet? That stupid thing was how he lost his arm and leg! His children  _ died _ because of that stupid map,” Brielle was angry, because Jim was mad at her father, and had no reason to be in her mind. “You want to know why he took me in? Why he likes you so much? Pirates came after him, because of that map. They burned a ship he was on, and his children ended up dying!” Brielle paused for a moment, her anger was aggravating her side, and she took a few deep breaths. She could see the shock on Jim’s face as she talked, but ignored it. “He almost died too! The reason he was so obsessed with it was because he had no life after his children died! He chased that map, and never found the ones that hurt him. Don’t you dare say he doesn’t care, Jim,” she finished talking, her anger subsiding now. 

“He had children once? Not just you?” Jim was the most shocked by that. Brielle does her best to repeat the story Silver had told her, so many years ago. About halfway through, Sarah came in. She and both the Dopplers had been given a room that had beds they could sleep in. When Brielle finished her patchy story, she just stared up at the ceiling, remembering she had promised not to tell anyone.

Jim didn’t say anything after that, he just sat in silence next to Brielle. Sarah, who only got half the story, didn’t want to question Brielle on it. They spent the next few days in the hospital, Brielle was up and walking everyday since she had fully woken up. At the end of the week, the doctors said she could leave, as long as she didn’t stress her wound. Brielle was ready as soon as they gave her the ok. She replaced her knives back into her arm and leg, and then looked around confused. “Where’s my necklace? My crest?” she searched around as well she could, but no one knew what she was talking about. “I gave it to Da before the duel, with my knives!” she was frantic, making everyone search for it. With no luck, she tells a doctor as she was leaving to keep an eye out for it, but she had a feeling her father had kept it. So she couldn’t come back, so she couldn’t  _ prove _ she was Silver’s daughter.

They got aboard a ship to Montressor, thankful it would go straight to the spaceport. It took two days to return home, and Brielle realized that Amelia might try to send the navy after it. But Amelia said she’d rather not deal with that mess, and Brielle let it go. Returning to the inn felt strange to Brielle. It had only been two weeks since they left, if they hadn’t been attacked by pirates it would have been the same time. But nothing felt right, and she just laid in her bed for a day. Jim tried to tell Morph what had happened, and the little blob was happy at the mention of Silver. Sarah let them rest that night, but was set on opening the inn the next day, hoping work would keep the two kid’s minds busy.

While Brielle couldn’t do much until her side healed, she did her best to help Sarah. Brielle and Jim didn’t talk to each other, besides asking for something occasionally. This went on for about two weeks, until they finally started talking again. It wasn’t so much that they didn’t want to talk, but neither knew what to say. But as soon as they did start talking, they apologized profusely to each other. They were close once again, and they decided there was going to be nothing secret between them.

One night Amelia and Delbert came over, and they discussed everything that had happened, now that it was way behind them. Amelia wasn’t going to say anything about Brielle’s pirate life. She worked honestly now, and from what Amelia saw, only acted in defense. 

“Your  _ father _ , however,” Amelia started. Brielle looked at her, daring to continue. “I’m sorry, Brielle. But nothing short of a miracle would I let that man escape what’s due. While he did help us, there’s so much that he’s done, I can’t just ignore that.”

“I understand,” Brielle says softly. None of them expected her to answer like that. “I doubt I’ll ever seen him again, anyway,” she sighed. In the hospital, her father had told her that he was going to be away for a while. She didn’t call him out on it, but she knew that meant he’d never be back for her. Keeping her crest confirmed that, but she trusted his judgement.

“It’s ok, Brielle. You’ll always be my sister,” Jim smiled at her. They had decided that, knowing blood didn’t matter. She gave a quick smile, but didn’t talk more. She was holding a cup of tea, and sipped at it.

“I would be proud to call you my daughter,” Sarah added. A knock on the door distracts her, and she moves to go answer.

“One day we should go to Ursa,” Brielle says. “I think my grandparents would really like you Jim.”

“How far is that from here? I’m not really a fan of long trips now.”

“Like a week? But then we could stay as long as we want, grandma would prob-” Brielle pauses. Sarah had just opened the door and the voice from the other side was unmistakable. “Da?” she and Jim run to Sarah’s side as fast as they can. The cyborg was standing just outside the door, holding two large boxes.

“Ain’t it a bit late fer ya t’be up, lass?” Silver laughs and makes his way into the Inn. The Dopplers glance at each other, and decide it’s for the best they leave.

“If I catch you here tomorrow, Silver,” Amelia doesn’t need to finish her threat. Both Jim and Briella glare at her as she makes her way out.

“Would you care for tea or anything?” Sarah asks. Always the calm and rational one, this unexpected visit didn’t bother her. Silver goes to respond, but she’s already through to the kitchen, leaving the pirate and the children alone.

“Why’d you come here?” Brielle asks.

“What, I can’t see me own daughter?” Silver tries to laugh. “I didn’t want t’leave ya when I did, and it’s been breaking me heart t’think about it,” he sighs. “I guess I really have gone soft.”

“You mean you’ve always been soft,” Jim grins. Brielle laughs and seconds it.

“It’s good t’see you two gettin’ along,” Silver says, and shoves one of the boxes at each of them. “Wasn’t plannin’ on seein’ ya again, Jimbo, but I figured I owed botha you somethin’.”

They open the boxes, and they’re both filled with an assortment of items. Brielle’s has a new coat and hat to match her father’s, some odds and ends from different planets, a sword, among other items the pirate knew she would like. Jim’s had a similar coat, a few old weapons that Jim had definitely seen in the pirate books he read growing up, and some other things. Both of them immediately put on the coats, and reached down. In the pocket of both their coats was something Brielle had been missing.

“My crest! I thought-”

“I wasn’t going t’let ya keep it when I left you. But I realized, if something like that were t’happen again, I would be leavin’ ya without an extra leg up.”

“But, why would you give me one too?” Jim asks, looking down at the crest he had retrieved.

“Well, I just thought,” Silver starts. He didn’t want to admit it outloud now, but he did sort of think of Jim like a son.

“It’s cause you’re m’brother,” Brielle says, and pushes her shoulder into Jim to knock him off balance. Silver was thankful his daughter knew him so well. Jim pushed Brielle back, and the two began a shoving war with each other as Sarah returned from the kitchen. 

“Oh you two both look so handsome in those coats!” Sarah smiles as she puts down tea. “Jim do you remember when you used to play pirates and run around in one of my blouses?”

“Mom, please don’t,” Jim begins to protest, but it was too late. Sarah pulled a picture projector down from a nearby shelf, and flipped to one. A young Jim was holding a toy sword, wearing his mother’s shirt, and giggling excitedly. Silver laughs at the image, and pulls out some pictures of his own.

“Ok Da wait, stop, did you plan this or what?” Brielle asks. Both her and Jim are red in the face from embarrassment, and both the parents ignore them. Nothing could have prepared Brielle to see her father like this. She knew he was soft hearted when it came to her, but this was at another level. She and Jim sat down together, watching both parents flip through what seemed to be endless pictures of both their childhoods.

“I didn’t even know mom had this many pictures,” Jim whispers to Brielle.

“Ok, but it kinda makes sense for her. Since when did a pirate have time to take this many?” Brielle whispers back.

They sat there for a few minutes, watching pictures of their childhoods. While very different, seeing the pictures side by side, and hearing the parents’ comments, there were also similarities. They both had somewhat difficult upbringings, with Jim’s father leaving and Brielle’s being Silver. They both “played” pirates, although one was more...involved. 

Once both parents had run out of pictures, they all sat in silence for a moment. It had been nearly two decades since Silver had felt peace like this. The two kids were picking at each other, getting along like they really were siblings. Sarah was smiling at them trying to get Jim to stop picking at Brielle. That made Silver laugh, as they all knew she was the tougher one between the two. 

“Da, where are you going after this?” Brielle’s lighthearted mood dropped. The realization that this sudden visit seemed final hit her.

“Yer not goin’t’like it, lass,” Silver sighs. He was tired. After seeing Brielle go through so much, he realized he didn’t want this life anymore. The reason he had become a pirate was gone. Seeing Brielle half dead in the hospital made him realize that this life wasn’t worth it. He had left his crew, and wasn’t planning on ever returning to them. In fact, he wasn’t planning on seeing two days from then. “I’ve given up the pirate’s life.”

“Oh? That’s great! Are you going back to Ursa then? Because if you do I might want to come with because-”

“That’s not going t’happen, Brielle.”

“Oh, um, were you going to stay here? That would be better! I’m sure it might be weird with Ms. Amelia around, but she’ll get used to it,” Brielle’s excitement isn’t echoed by the rest of them. Jim shifts closer to her and puts an arm around her shoulders, and Sarah cleans up the cups they had finished. Brielle feels the cold mood, and slowly she comes to terms with what Silver meant. “Oh.”

“M’sorry lass, but it would happen sooner or later. There’s no draw left, and yer the only thing keepin’ me afloat here.”

“But, but you can’t!” Brielle yells, and goes to stand up to face her father. Jim holds her down, and he wraps her into a tight hug. “You can’t do this Da! You- there has to be another way! I’m sure you can avoid getting caught! Or I don’t know, go join grandpa? I just- I don’t- why?” Brielle breaks into sobs. Jim can feel himself start to cry, but does his best to hold it in.

“Brielle, I wanted to say goodbye,” Silver says, softly. He kneels down in front of the kids. “If I were t’stay out there, who knows when I would see ya next. And who knows if I would be able t’say goodbye if somethin’ were t’happen to me. I couldn’t do that t’ya,” he says, pulling both of them into a hug. Jim too starts to sob, and if it weren’t for that, he would’ve noticed Silver himself had begun to cry. 

Silver stayed there that night, neither Brielle nor Jim budging from his side. Sarah had gently led Silver, half carrying the two children, up to a room, and the three of them fell asleep holding each other.

The next morning Brielle woke up first. She was curled up in her father’s side, and decided she was never moving. Jim woke up slowly after her, and decided the same thing. They looked at each other sadly. Silver was the only family Brielle had ever truly known, and she didn’t know what to do. While his reasoning made sense, she hated it. Jim had already had one father leave him, a second was going to crush him. He too understood Silver’s reason, and was grateful that he had stopped here to say goodbye. The two of them softly whispered to each other, trying to reassure the other that everything would be alright. Silver had woken up before this, and listened intently to his kids. And, upon realizing that he had just referred to them as “his kids”, moved just enough to alert them that he was awake.

“Jim and I have come up with a great plan. It’s that we’re never going to move, so you can’t ever move,” Brielle hugs him tightly. Jim echoes her, and Silver hugs them both. But. Silver is also twice the size of both of them put together, so he breaks out of their attempts to hold him down, and stands up. “Da, please don’t do this.”

“Lass, I wish there was a way to avoid it.”

“Well like, don’t just turn yourself in or whatever your plan was! Ask for a trial! Draw it out as long as possible! Jim and I will find a way to save you.”

“Silver, if you die, I’ll never forgive you.”

The three made their way downstairs, where Sarah is busy waiting tables. Jim and Brielle hop to work quickly, both keeping an eye on Silver to make sure he doesn’t leave. After all the tables were satisfied for the moment, they return to Silver. Again they try to come up with ideas to save the old pirate, but there seems to be nothing they could do. 

“Ah, Silver, you are still here,” Amelia says. Brielle and Jim turn in sync to slightly glare at the feline.

“O’course cap’n wouldn’t want t’spoil the justice you’ve been seekin’,” Silver jokes. He leans over and hugs his kids tightly. “Don’t blame ‘er now, y’know she’s just doin’ whats right,” he whispers to them.

“But it’s not right,” Brielle whispers back. While she wants to cry, she holds it in.

“We know it’s not her fault,” Jim says, holding Brielle’s hand. “Mom and I will take care of Bri, so don’t worry.”

“Thank ya, lad.”

“Da, I-” Brielle stops, holding back her tears. Silver kisses the top of her head.

“I love ya, lass.”

Sarah shoos Jim and Brielle upstairs after Amelia escorts SIlver away. She doesn’t know what to do, but is glad the man had said goodbye. If he hadn’t, she might’ve been the one to take his life. She sighs and gets back to work. Thankfully the diners had all been too engrossed in their meals to notice what was happening. And she didn’t blame Amelia for wanting to get this done. Silver had still committed many crimes in his time as a pirate, even if he was good to the kids. 

A few hours later, she had just cleaned the last table, when the kids thundered down the stairs. Jim was holding a large book, and Brielle was carrying loose paper that fluttered everywhere as they ran down.

“Mom I think we found a way to save Silver! You just might not like it,” Jim trips over Brielle who had knelt down to gather up her pages.

“According to these,” Brielle holds up a sheet, “twelve laws, these 10 regulations, and about fifteen technicalities, we might be able to  _ legally _ save him.”

“And why won’t I like it? If this is all legal, shouldn’t it all work out?”

Jim and Brielle look at each other. “Mom will you come with us to the spaceport in the morning? Hopefully this will workout.”

In the morning they arrived at the spaceport, and immediately set to work. Jim ran off to the library, Briella ran off to a courthouse, and they sent Sarah to go find Silver. It wasn’t too hard to find him, as Amelia was in the lobby of the jail, talking to some of the guards to make sure they kept a close eye on Silver. She nodded Sarah through, trusting that her reasons for being here were well intended.

Silver was sitting down on the bed in the jail cell, waiting for someone to come in and tell him it’s time. He was not expecting to see Sarah, especially without at least her son in tow. 

“Ah Mrs. Hawkins, and t’what do I owe this visit?”

“I’m not actually sure. Jim and Brielle seem to have a plan, and they scattered as soon as we got to the spaceport. My job is to wait here for them, but they haven’t told me exactly what they’re up to.”

“Heh, sound about right fer the two of ‘em.”

They chatted away together for awhile. Trying to avoid talking about the predicament Silver was in. Mostly they talked of their children, keeping the mood light.

“Ms. Amelia, please, I just want to talk to my father!” Brielle’s voice echoes into the room.

“I guess they found whatever they were looking for.”

“Alright, but if you-”

“Ms. Amelia, I swear we’re not going to break him out!” Brielle huffs, and she and Jim storm into the room. “Da you’re really lucky your daughter takes after you.”

“Mom I’m so sorry, can you please sign this?” Jim asks, handing his mother a sheet of paper.

“What is-”

“Don’t, don’t worry about it. Don’t even read it. It’s better if you don’t.”

“Oh Da, can you sign this one?” Brielle hands her father a different sheet. “Same rules, don’t read it.”

After the parents had signed both sheets, the kids left quickly without a word.

“Did you read it?”

“I’d rather not know what the lass is up to.”

Jim and Brielle had run off looking for two specific papers. Jim had run to the library, looking for a custody promise note. While technically it was meant for crimes committed by children, in the law it states that spouses are covered as well under certain circumstances. While piracy was not covered, and crimes that Silver had committed and they could prove he committed, were technically covered. By signing it, the guardian (Sarah) takes full charge and responsibility of the person in question (Silver). 

Which lead to Brielle’s task. She was looking for a specific marriage document. It was a form that, when signed by both parties, qualifies them as eloped, and was often used by couples at the spaceport. 

“So do you think this will work?” Jim asked when they met back up after finding the sheets.

“Well, no. But I mean, legally they have to consider it? So if not at least it should buy us some time to come up with another plan.”

“So as you can see, our parents are married and according to-”

“What did she just say?” Sarah stands up. After the kids had ran off again, she and Silver had begun to talk again. However, hearing Brielle’s voice, she was momentarily distracted. “I’ll be right back,” she says as she leaves the room.

“Well young lady, I can see that however-”

“And because my mother signed this note, his crimes are excused.”

“So if you would be so kind as to release my father, we would be very grateful.”

The man sitting at the desk looks at the various papers in front of him. “I have to go ask someone about this,” and he hurries off.

“What did you two do?” Sarah asks. Both turn around, and look at each other, not wanting to explain.

“Hey mom, so I think this might actually work!” Jim says.

“Yeah, I mean like, that guy knows it's true.”

“And what is true?”

“Um, can we tell you lat-”

“Sarah you married that criminal!?” Amelia shrieks as she comes around the corner. Sarah side eyes the kids.

“Yes.” Technically, she did. She didn’t know she did, but legally she was married to the pirate now.

“Why on earth would you-” Amelia pauses, looking down at the two kids. 

“Ms. Amelia I just want a happy family with m’da and Jim’s mom,” Brielle starts to sob. “Why can’t you just let us be happy!” about half the tears were fake, the other half were left over from the other morning.

“Ma’am, please,” Jim hold Brielle and does his best to look sad as well. Amelia looks at the sad huddle, and over to Sarah. 

“So, you truly want to do this?”

“I want what’s best for my family. I’m sorry if this upsets you, but Jim and Brielle mean more to me than anything.”

“You understand what this means, right.”

“Yes,” no, she did not. She had very little idea of what was going on. But Jim and Brielle were putting all their heart into it, so she had to play along.

“I will...go get this paperwork cleared then. But you all understand that if he messes up even once-”

“Amelia, I have this under control.” Sarah did her best to feign confidence. Amelia walked back with the paperwork to file it away and make sure everything was in order. “So were you two going to tell either of us?”

“Well, no.”

“Yeah no.”

“How long did you think that would work?”

“Long enough.”

“Precisely one year, 6 months, and 12 days.”

“So which one of you is going to tell your father?”

“Jim is because it was his idea.”

“Hey, he’s your father!”

“Yeah but, he won’t take you seriously at first.”

While the three of them bickered, a guard came out, congratulated Silver on his release, let him out of the jail cell, and gave him a strict rundown of everything that would need to happen so that he would not be arrested again. 

“What th’hell just happened?” Silver asks as he walks out.

“DAD!” Brielle shouts and jump hugs her father. Instead of answering his question, she drags him along outside, and the small family makes their way back to the Benbow.

It took about two months for Silver to find out he was married to Sarah. He had taken over in the kitchen at the inn, of course. Being freed after basically turning himself in was confusing, but he figured all laws had their loopholes, and would rather not know what miracles were performed. But one night they had just finished up cleaning, when Amelia stopped by. While she had been very upset, since technically this was legal, she had to let it go. 

“I still don’t know how you two figured this out.”

“Well Bri and I had joked about it a couple times, and I know mom has signed that note for me before.”

“And I had a brief class on law my last year, so I vaguely remembered a section on loopholes.”

“Yeah, and the spaceport has marriages like that all the time.”

“Marriages?” Silver asks. Jim and Brielle look at each other.

“Did neither of you-” Sarah starts.

“Jim was supposed to!”

“I thought he knew!”

“Da I’m so sorry but you’re married to Ms. Sarah.”

“Mom I’m not sorry your married to Silver.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have a couple small one shots I might write up later to add to this, for now this is it. I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> The last 10000 words or so were written like 3/4 years after the previous ones, so if some things don't add up, I apologize. Also I kinda forgot about morph I realize, whoops.


End file.
